The Denham tracts; a collection of folklore, reprinted from the original tracts and pamphlets printed by Denham between 1846 and 1859

'"••"iT^'inifrnTrrTMTr^ii tj*^-*t~

|PM,l|lllii|||!,!|li ^ 1 I ■ ■ ■ ,. , ,,,...,

MMMiMMMMIMMl

SR

mntUmt»»i k

wmtm

- '■ . i^:^jS

Digitized by the Internet Arciiive

in 2007 witii funding from

IVIicrosoft Corporation

http://www.arcliive.org/details/denliamtractscollO-1denliuoft

i;h^ cl^fllk-^ar^ ^o(\tl%

FOR COLLECTING AND PRINTING

RELICS OF POPULAR ANTIQUITIES, &c.

ESTABLISHED IN

THE YEAR MDCCCLXXVIII.

PUBLICATIONS

OF

THE FOLK-LOEE SOCIETY.

XXIX.

[1891.]

fynml m& ®ftm oj tU S^Mm ^oddg.

G. LAITEENCE GOMMB, F.S.A.

ANDREW LANG, M.A.

THE BIGHT HON. SIK JOHN LUBBOCK, M.P., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., F.S.A.

Lt.-Gen. PITT-RIVERS, D.C.L., F.R.S., F.S.A., ETC.

PROFESSOR J. RHYS, M.A.

THE REV. PROFESSOR A. H. SAYCE, M.A.

EDWARD B. TYLOB, LL.D., F.R.S.

€a\xntit

THE HON. JOHN ABERCROMBY.

DR. KARL BLIND.

EDWARD BRABROOK, F.S.A.

MISS C. S. BURNE.

MISS M. ROALFE COX.

J. P. EMSLIE. .

J. J. FOSTER.

J. G. FRAZER, M.A.

THE REV. DR. M. GASTER.

PROF. A. C. HADDON, M.A.
E. SIDNEY HARTLAND, F.S.A.
JOSEPH^JACOBS, B.A.
BRYNMOR JONES, LL.B., M.P.
W. P. KIRBY.
J. T. NAAKfe.
ALFRED NUTT.
T. FAIRMAN ORDISH, F.S.A.
HENRY B. AVHBATLBY, F.S.A.

EDWARD CLODD, 19, Carleton Road, Tufnell Park, N.
G. L. APPBRSON. | JOHN TOLHURST, F.S.A.

^ecretarg.

F. A. MILNE, M.A., 11, Old Square, Lincoln's Inn, London, W.C.

THE DENHAM TRACTS.

THE DENHAM TEACTS.

A Collection of Folklore by Michael Aislabie Denham,

AND

REPRINTED FROM THE ORIGINAL TRACTS AND PAMPHLETS
PRINTED BY MR. DENHAM BETWEEN 1846 AND 1859.

EDITED BY

Dr. JAMES HARDY.

VOL. I.

LONDON :
PUBLISHED FOR THE FOLKLORE SOCIETY,

BY DAVID NUTT, 270, STEAND, W.C.
1892.

"Ml

WESTMINSTER :

PRINTED BY NICHOLS AND SONS,

25, PARLIAMENT STREET.

PKEFACE.

The title of this volume is derived from the author of the
tracts and leaflets which a re reprinted — Michael Aislabie
Denham. Mr. Denham was a local tradesman in Pierse Bridge,
and throughout his life he was a diligent collector of the then
unconsidered trifles which occupy so much of old peasant
thought and life. He collected before Folklore as a subject of
study and inquiry was thought of. He printed his collections
in local newspapers, stray leaflets, or small pamphlets, and until
the Percy Society requested him to compile a volume for them
hejiad no thought, or at all events no chanc e, of bringing his
collections before the public in volume form.

At the Time when the Folklore Society was formed in 1878
Mr. Thoms brought before the Council the subject of the
Denham Tracts. He had a few of them. Some were deposited
in the library of the Society of Antiquaries, some were in the
British Museum, and the late Mr. Edward Hailstone had a very
good collection, which was sold with his otlier books after his
death. But not one of these several collections was complete.
By carefully collating them, however, one with the other, it was
possible to get together as complete a collection as by the
nature of things could be expected. Mr. Thoms urged the task
upon the Council, and mainly through his endeavours the work
was proceeded with. Mr. Hailstone lent some of his copies to
fill up the lacuiise in the British Museum collection and that of
the Society of Antiquaries, and after considerable trouble the

VIU PREFACE.

whole collection, so far as could be ascertained; was carefully
transcribed for the Society. While this work was going on Mr.
James Hardy joined the Society, and was greatly interested in
the publication of the Denham Tracts. Mr. Denham had been
a correspondent of his, and he possessed many of the tracts
with MS. additions by Mr. Denham and by himself, and he
placed his services at the disposal of the Society. The Council
were only too pleased to avail themselves of this opportunity,
and Mr. Hardy was asked to edit the volume, a request which
was kindly acceded to, though at the cost of much time stolen
from other arduous editorial and scientifif^- duties in connection
with Berwickshire, where he resides.

This reprint of the tracts will occupy, when completed, Jwp
volumes. The material has been so divided that the first volume
shall consist of the local and family traditions and characteristics ;
the second 'of the peasant superstitions and customs. The value
of the first volume will not be quite appreciated perhaps on the
lines generally followed by students of Folklore who are too
apt to study the superstitions, customs, and traditions of the
people without studying the people and their surroundings.
But it is not enough to know what the Folklore actually is.
We must get to know, if we would study it properly, the con-
ditions and surroundings by which it has been brought down
generation after generation. No one reading through the first
volume of these tracts can fail to draw a picture of border life
at variance with what he would be inclined to draw by the aid
of other books on the subject, and it is exactly this difference in
the pictures which is likely to be so valuable to our future
studies of the Folklore of this particular district. The elements
of savagery were not eradicated here ; tribal life and instincts
still formed the basis of the social condition. The border chief-
tain, caring more for his horse than his land (see p. 17), loved
by and loving his own clan, hated by and hating all outside 1:

PREFACE. IX

own clan, living by force of arms and carrying out his revenge
against hereditary enemies in a fashion sanctioned only by
tradition, lives in rhyme, proverb, and story in the hearts and
memories of his people as the highest objective force in their
lives. Localities to them were not what localities are to the
modern Englishman. They were weather guides or prophets ;
they represented the boundary without which lived only aliens
and strangers, who were of course enemies (see p. 22) ; they
were the focus-points round which clans were forced by outside
influences to congregate, and they were identified in rhyme and
proverb with the characteristics of their people ; but they
were not home settlements in our modern sense. Nothing
seems to me more significant of the attitude of unsettled clans
during the very process of transition from clan life to village
and town life than these old rhymes, which reflect a condition of
culture at distinct variance with the generally accepted view of
English historical evidence. It is this condition of culture
which wants so much to be examined carefully and systemati-
cally. There is too little evidence of it available for systematic
treatment, and the volume before us is valuable if only on
account of its obvious characteristic as an undesigned and un-
arranged collection of important evidence not to be obtained
elsewhere. Ridpath's Border History, Clarke's Survey of the
Lakes, the volume of Border Laws published by the Commis-
sion presided over by the Bishop of Durham, and perhaps
some few other books of the same sort and not generally
accessible to the student, are but sidelights of a picture full of
deep glaring colours, blood reds and purples thrown into the
darkest shades, or illumined by the strongest and fiercest
lights.

Michael Aislabie Denham died at Pierse Bridge on the 10th
Septejnber, 1859. Born near Bowes in Yorkshire after the
commencement of the century, he engaged in business at Hull

X PUEPACE.

during the early part of his life, but ultimately settled as a
general merchant in a moderate way at Pierse Bridge.

In 1846, when the Percy Society were issuing their publica-
tions, Mr. Denham was induced to contribute a " part " of 73
pages, which he entitled " A Collection of Proverbs and
Popular Sayings relating to the Seasons, the Weather, and
Agricultural Pursuits, gathered chiefly from Oral Tradition."
The first attempt to record these was made by him in
" Richardson's Table Book, etc." He had previously, under
the signature of " M. A. D.," been a contributor to Honeys
publications. Ten years afterwards he printed " Slogans, and
War, and Gathering Cries of the North of England," which
he issued subsequently with additions in a neat volume of 110
pages. About the same period he commenced " A Collection
of Bishoprick Ehymes, Proverbs, and Sayings," to which he
afterwards added four Tracts of the same kind, completing the
last about 1858. "Cumberland Rhymes, Proverbs, and
Sayings " next occupied his attention, and these were con-
tained in four successive Parts, the last appearing m 1854.

In 18.50 he issued " Popular Rhymes, Proverbs, Sayings,
Prophecies, etc., peculiar to the Isle of Man, and the Manks
People," being assisted by a gentleman resident in the island.

Westmoreland also afforded him gleanings which in 1858
were completed in two Parts. Of " Folklore " chiefly relating
to the North of England he issued four Parts from 1850 to
1858. " Sundry Minor Tracts," to the number of twenty, he
printed, commencing about 1849 and terminating about 1854.
In the year last mentioned he began to print " Folklore of
Northumberland," which extended to six separate impressions,
whereof the last appeared in 1856.

Mr. Denham took great interest in the discoveries of Roman
Remains made during the formation of the Darlington and
Barnard Castle Railway at Pierse Bridge and Carlebury. An
account of these, under the signature " Archaeus," he printed in

PREFACE. XI

four notices, October, 1855, February, 1856, August, 1856, and
7th March, 1857. Mr. Denham was a diligent collector of
Roman coins and other antiquities, and furnished his friends
with impressions of them in wax and gutta-percha.

His largest work occupied much of his time during the last
year of his life, and was entitled '' Folklore, or a Collection of
Local Rhymes, Proverbs, Sayings, Prophecies, Slogans, etc.,
relating to Northumberland, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Berwick-
on Tweed." It consists of 154 pages, and the impression was
limited to only 50 copies. Besides these he had many other
slips printed on similar subjects, and the last effort of his pen
was to complete " A Classified Catalogue of the Antiquarian
Tomes, Tracts, and Trifles," which had been edited by himself.
Very few collectors are in possession of all his publications, and
they who desire to complete sets spare no expense to achieve
that object, for several cannot be obtained, and it is improbable
that they will ever be recovered.

In domestic life Mr. Denham was a kind and amiable man.
Though somewhat formal in manner, which his intercourse with
the world did not wear off, he was blameless and inoffensive,
ever candid and upright in his dealings, while those with whom
he was intimate mourned the loss of a true and steadfast friend.
His ruling passion influenced him to the last ; for the Catalogue
of his Tracts, already alluded to, is dated August, 1859, when
he was subject to much suffering, and his correspondence was
maintained to within a few days of his decease.

Dr. Hardy has added to this edition of the Tracts many
valuable notes derived from his own observation and reading,
and these are distinguished by the initials [J. H.] printed in
square brackets. In other respects the. reprints are exactly as
they were last issued by Mr. Denham.

G. L. GOMME.

Barnes, S.W.,

June, 1892.

THE DENHAM TRACTS.

SAYINGS, CHARACTERISTICS, &c., RELATING TO NORTH-
UMBERLxlND, NORTH DURHAM, BERWICK, &c.

The following budget, from a great variety of sources, several
of them being marked down from books, and others picked up
in the country, I have placed here, rather than -disarrange
Mr. Denham's series. Although not all popular sayings, they are
akin to them, and are good pegs for hanging historical facts, or
popular attributes of places or persons, upon. I give those that
refer to places or persons in a sort of geographical order, com-
mencing at Tweedside, and going southwards, and then proceed
to those of a more general nature, or possessed of an historical
character. — James Hardy.

Attributes of the River Tweed.

Utmost Tweed. — Milton.

Tweed, slow winding through the vale. — Somerville's Chase, bk. i.

Tweed, pure parent stream,

Whose pastoral banks first heard my Doric reed.

Thomson's Autumn.

Our northern borders boast of Tweed's fair flood.

Drayton's Idea. Sonnet 32.
B

2 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Tweed, the limit between Logris land
And Albany.

Spenser's Fairy Queen, bk. iv.

A river here, there an ideal line

By fancy drawn, divides the sister kingdoms ;

On each side dwells a people, similar

As twins are to each other, valiant both —

Both for their valour famous through the world.

Home's Douglas.

Wandering from muddy Tyne to silver Tweed. — B. W.

Tweed, which no more our kingdoms shall divide.

Forth Feasting, Drummond's WorTcs, p. 127.

Tweed, the fairest Caledonian flood.

Brown's Piscatory Eclogues, p. 98.

Tweed is notable for two commodities, specially salmon and whet-
stones. — Patten's Expedition into Scotland^ London, 1 G48.

Tweed's silver streams
Glittering in the sunny beams.

Mrs. CocTcburn.
What beauty does Flora disclose,

How sweet are her smiles upon Tweed.

Crauford.

Where Tweed's soft banks in liberal beauty lie,
And Flora laughs beneath an azure sky.

Langhorne.

Both sides of the Tweed. — Toast.

Berwick the second Alexandria.

An ancient historian terms Berwick a second Alexandria. —
Chron. Lanercost ; Scott's Hist, of Scotland, i. p. 57; Tytler,
vol. i. pp. Ill, 112 ; Hist, of Berioick, by John Scott, p. 13.

Berwick the Gibraltar of Scotland.

Mackenzie's Northumberland, i. p. 323, note.

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 3

From Byron to Berwick — Berwick to Calais.

So clerre, and so colour like
That no bird was liim like,
Fro Byron to Berwike
Under the bewis.

The Houlat hy Holland.

Sibbald's Ghron. of S. Poet, pt. i. p. 78.

Gif evir my fortune was to be a freir,
The dait thairof is past full mony a yeir,
For unto every lusty toun and place,
Of all Yngland, from Berwick to Calaice,
I have into thy habit maid gud cheir.

Dunbar's How Dunbar was designed to be ane Frear.

Berwick to the Land's End.
As for protection, her face will protect her from Berwick to
the Land's End. — Fortunes of Nigel, iii. p. 33.

Fro Berwyk unto Ware.

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, 1. 694.

Berwick.

At the battle of Shrewsbury in 1402, when buckling on his
armour. Hotspur called for his sword ; and on his attendant
telling him it had been left at Berwic, a village not far distant.
Hotspur exclaimed, " At Berwic a wizard told me I should not
live long after seeing Berwic, but I always thought of Berwic/i-
upon-Tweedj^* and from that moment he was visibly discom-
posed. — Accompaniment to Topographical Map of England,
p. 94.

The incident is thus related by "Wyntomi. While the Regent
of Scotland, a.d. 1403, led an army to the assistance of Cock-
law —

b2

4 THE DE^THAM TRACTS.

In all this tyni tlie young Percy,
Be wicbcraft or devilry,
Trowit, in nane utbir stede
Bot in Berwike to be ded :
Berwike-upon-Tweed for-tbi
He for-bare for tbat fantasy.

Cron. bk. ix. c. 34 ; vol. ii. p. 407.

In the Battle of Shrewsbury —

In-to the Feild of Berwike then
All assemblyt tliir Ynglis men.
That wyst nocht this yong Percy
Bot trowit that land was Schrewisbery,
Quhil he had sped wyth-outyn let,
And his hors some til hym get.
Than ansuerit hym a multitude,
That his hors in Berwike stad.
" In Berwik ! " he said, " than am I
All begylit swykfully." *

lb. p. 408.

" Braid-Walit Berwick," i.e. " Broad-walled."

Braid-walit Berwick,

Tuedis toune, famosit befoir

Throw many scoir
' Off mortall-myndit men ;
Bot now we'll ken

His death is (has) gained mair gloir

Than ever befoir,
Thocht thowsandis in thee slain.

Gife cities stroave qulia brocht to Homer breath,

Then boldlie Berwick brag of sic a death.
Giv cities sevin for Paganis birth contend
Then much mair Berwick famous, be his end !

Poems on the Death of Mr. James Melvill, by Thomas
Melvill, aged 14. — Pref. to MelvilVs Aufohiog. p. Ixxii. &c.

* i.e. deceitfully.

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 5

Mr. James Melvill died at Berwick, Jan. 21, 1613 (o.s.) (1614
N.s,), aged 59, in tlie eighth year of his banishment.

" Bonny Berwick."

A proverbial epithet applied by the Newcastle Daily Chronicle^
1861, to a native of the town guilty of cheatery.

Hang-a-Dyke-Nook.

Opposite to the castle (of Berwick) on the other side of the
river is still seen the place called Hang-a-Dyke-Nook, where the
young Setons were executed. An old woman who was hanging
out her clothes to bleach said, " Ye see it by the length of bank
that has shuthered down. They say it will never stop up if they
build it up ever so often." But I could not find that she could
remember it ever to have been built up in her time — twenty
years. Be that as it may, about a hundred yards there show a
red vacancy of earth on the otherwise green banks of the river.
— Hewitt's Visit to Remarkable Places, pp. 491, 492. See
Eidpath's Border Hist. p. 306.

The Berwick Smacks.

This occurs as a nickname applied by Northumbrians to
sheai-ers from Berwick in a kemp. — Story's Harvest, p. 54.

The Bound Kode.

In Mr. Patrick Galloway's letter to Mr. James Carmichaell
(agent at London of the banished Scots Lords then at New-
castle), from Newcastle, the 2nd November, 1584: "This same
minor natu Clodius (Lord Claude Hamilton) is to be at London,
and (is) to stay at his power the good cause. With him we are
informed Metellanus, Montrosius, and l^Telvinus deales, and
some of his side of the Bound Rode. I am sure ye will get know-
ledge." (The " Bound Rode " was the line of boundary, on
this side of Berwick, separating the two kingdoms.) — The

6 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Miscellanies of the Wodrow Society^ edited by David Laing, Esq.
Edin. 1844, p. 424.

Berwick.

" As for poor Maggy she must shift for herself, as the
forester did when he was left alone to cry out ' Bare w^eek.'
Tradition derives the name of Berwick from this strange
etymology ; also from being a rendezvous of bears, which are
blazoned on the town arms." — Millers Baldred of the Bass,
p. 113.

Berwick Bridge.

"It is said that it is founded upon woolpacks, from the
sources whence the expenses of building were drawn." —
Jeffrey's Hist, of Roxburghshire, iii. p. 24, note.

" The Gooseberries."

In the report of the Berwick Election Bribery Commission,
1861, it is stated : " Mr. Weatherhead, the Conservative agent,
said he thought he had heard that head-money was considered
by the freemen as a sort of right." It went by the name of
*' gooseberries." On this the Berwick Advertiser, Feb. 23,
1861, remarks : " Head-money, known as gooseberries, has not
existed in the borough of Berwick for the last sixty years.
About sixty years back the gooseberries were openly and regu-
larly ripe for pulling in the autumn ; but in 1802 a contested
election took place between Colonel Hall and Mr. Fordyce of
Ayton on one side, and Mr. Daniel Ord of Longridge on the
other. The last-named was unsuccessful at the poll, and he
petitioned against the two others, and unseated them on the
question of ' gooseberries.' Since then there has been no head-
money known as gooseberries paid in the borough."

"The Gull- Hole."
The name given to the house where the Conservative bribery

^

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 7

agent of recent years distributed the money to the freemen. A
" gull hole " is a pit on the sea-coast for concealment in shoot-
ing gulls and other sea-fowl.

Carham Haugh, or Spittal Sands.

On the Tweedside, from Kelso upwards, it is a common
saying, that if the bodies of drowned persons are got nowhere
else, they are sure to be found on Carham Haugh or Spittal
Sands. — Paterson's Philip Cranston, p. 34.

As DEEP AS Pedwell (pron. Pedell).

Pedwell is a fishery in the Tweed. It is mentioned by
Reginald of Durham in his Miracles of St. Cnthbert, c. 73,
p. 149, as "Padduwell."

Fisherman of Norham,

" There's neither goat's hair nor ony thing else brings ony
rain as lang ns it's dry weather, as the fishermen of Norham
say when they are longing for rain."

Cirrus clouds, with flexuous and diverging fibres, and re-
sembling locks of hair, are called goat's hair, and indicate wind
or rain. Several years since I arranged with a friend to visit
Cheviot, and I happened to be strolling with an intelligent
farmer over his fields on the day preceding my visit. " Ah,"
says he, looking up to the sky, " you'll have a bad day to-
morrow for Cheviot — see the goat's hair." I could not believe
his prophecy, for the day was remarkably fine and the weather
appeared settled. To Cheviot I went, but there I encountered
one of the greatest thunderstorms I ever witnessed.

When dry weather continues for any length of time, no
salmon can be caught at Norham, and the fishers become so im-
patient and querulous that they, by their proverb, disavow all
faith in weather prognostics. — Mr. George Tate and Mr. W.
Wiglitman.

8 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

St. Cuthbert's Stone Boat.

" Tillraouth is a small village on the west of Twizell Bridge.
It belongs principally to Sir Francis Blake, who has built a
neat little mansion-house for his occasional residence on the
banks of the Till, and at the east end of the village. It contains
an excellent collection of paintings (pictures). Tillmouth be-
longed to Jordan Riddell in 1272, and afterwards to the
Claverings for many generations. Tillmouth Chapel, dedicated
to St. Cuthbert, and situated on a peninsula at the confluence
of the Till and Tweed, is now in ruins. Not far from this
ruined building Sir Francis Blake, a few years ago, built a
small chapel. Near this place lay, till lately, the remains of a
stone boat or coffin, in which, tradition says, the body of St.
Cuthbert was miraculously conveyed down the Tweed from

Melros."

* « « * • «

Mr. Hutchinson mentions a circumstance which continues to
be repeated among the Northumbrian peasantry. " There was,
some years ago, a design to convert this hallowed vessel to a
mean purpose, a peasant having devised to pickle pork in it, or
thereout to feed his hogs ; to preserve it from such profanation,
the spirits of darkness brake it in the night." — Mackenzie's
Northumberland, i. p. 338, 2d ed. 1825.

Lambe, in his Notes to the Battle of Flodden, p. 158, gives a
different version : " Not many years since a farmer of Cornhill
coveted the saint's stone boat, in order to keep pickled beef in
it. Before this profane loon could convey it away, the saint
came in the night time and broke it in pieces, which now lie at
St. Cuthbert's Chapel to please the curious and confute the
unbeliever."

" About three miles west from this place," says Mark,
writing in 1734, "at the confluence of the Till and Tweed,
are the remains of an old Popish chapel, dedicated to St. Cuth-
bert, and a kind of stone trough, almost in the form of a boat.

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 9

The inhabitants thereabout affirm this to have been in reality
used as such by that celebrated wonder-working saint, and have
a story among them of his saihng in it. It is narrower at the
one end than the other, and is a kind of hard freestone, or, as it
is called, bastard whin." ^ "^ "I was told many romantic
stories concerning it, particularly of a good farmer, Roger
Percy, that had the misfortune to profane the ground about the
chapel with the plough, for which his saintship was pleased to
send a plague of madness on him and his whole family." —
Mark's Survey of Northumberland, p. 75.

From a copy of verses inscribed in the Neiocastle Magazine
for 1827, p. 81, it appears that even the fragments were at
length broken into pieces, and that for the purpose of building a
stone wall. The writer observed two pieces of it.

But r.h ! at last time changed the scene,
An' changed our fortune sair I ween ;
The Cleghorns rose — foul fa' their spleen

The loun-like tykes !
An' the stane-boat hae broken clean

To mend their dykes.

It has recently been alleged that the Rev. Robert Lambe
invented the story of the " Stone Boat ; " but the date of Mark''s
" Survey " disproves this.

HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE.

The institution of the Order of the Garter took place in con-
sequence of a circumstance that happened at Wark Castle, about
1342.

Haddek, Pressok, Paston, Downham, and Kilham.

The country people pun on the names of these places, which—
except the first, which is in Scotland — are in Northumberland,
and say that when arranged they represent the incidents of a
hunt. The fox, or whatever was the beast of game, was, let us
say, found at Had-him ; the hunters were in full career at
Press-him ; but the hounds were at fault at Pass'd-him ; but

10 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

having again caught the scent they bowled him over at Downed-
him ; he, howevei-, recovered his limbs, and got away ; but
was finally run into at Kill-him.

A simple country girl was once met sobbing and crying on
the road between Downham and Kilham. Being asked where
she came from and what was the matter, she replied, " My
fayther's deein', I've come frae Downham (dooing him), and
I'm gaun to Kilham " (Kill-him).

An Irish tramp being told that the village he had come to
was Kilham, said he expected that the next place on the road
would be Eat-him.

There is said to be also a saying about Tiparee and Hungry
House, Downham, and Kilham, but my informant could not
recollect it.

I find another country pun upon the name of one of these
places, in the novel of Mattheio Paxton, 3 vols. London, 1854.
" It was while we were passing over an old battle-field, where
our countrymen won a great battle, and killed a Scottish king :
we were going, indeed, to a place with an ominous name,
savouring of the old bloody times, which the country folks said,
indeed, it took from that great battle ; and so in memory of the
cries of the pursuers as they overtook the flying Scots, ' Down
■wi' them,' the peaceful farming hamlet of Downham got its
name."— (Vol. ii. p. 170.)

There still remains another saying, viz. :

Crookliouse and Tiparee
Stand always ajee.

They are both situated on a slope adjacent to Beaumont Water.

Crooked Crookham.

This is a play on the word, which has derived its name from
a bend of the River Till, near which it is situated. It is a
village in the pai'ish of Branxton. There is a Presbyterian
meeting-house at Crookham, of which a legend is told of its

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. II

building. After the ground was marked out, and the founda-
tions were begun to be laid, somebody moved the marks that
had been stuck in the ground (and everybody thought they were
spirits who did it) and put them in another place, making the
place nearly twice as big as it was intended to have been. At
the first sacrament a being declared that the place would always
be cursed with fightings and contentioiis, and then vanished —
Mattheio Paxton, ii. pp. 173, 176.

Like Ancroft Bell-rope.

The bell-rope of the decayed village of Ancroft, in North
Durham, broke, and the churchwardens held no less than nine
meetings to deliberate whether to purchase a new or repair the
old one ; at last it was decided to splice it. Mark, in his Survey,
1734, says: "The chapel is mean and its steeple remarkable
for its form (it was a border tower), and being for some time
the dAvelling-house of one of the curates, called Beuly, for life.
It is repaired at the expense of the parishioners, except the
chancel " (p. 72). The place was inhabited by doggers. When
one of the plagues of whicli tradition speaks on one occasion
reached the place, those who were seized were carried out to a
hill-face, which was overgrown with broom, out of which shrub
a bower or booth was constructed, in which they were placed
(not without food it is to be hoped) till they died ; and then both
the booth and the body were burnt. This plague also visited
Belford, and there the sick also were carried out — in this case
to an open moor, and when death relieved them they were
buried in their clothes upon the moor, where the graves are
still pointed out. This I recently heard from an inhabitant of
Belford.

BowsDON Justice.

According to tradition, at Bowsdon, a Scotsman, shortly
before the union of the crowns, entered the village one evening
with a halter in his hand. What could he want with it ? To

12 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

steal a horse, of course. His looks were unfavourable — liis
replies to divers questions deemed unsatisfactory, and the in-
habitants, without farther ceremony, hanged him with his own
halter on an ash-tree at Old Woodside ! — Mackenzie's Hist, of
Nortlmmherlandy i. p. 381.

The Gowks of Glendale.
A short comedy from real life, by R. Story, appears in the New-
castle Magazine, 1827, pp. 147-151. When the relater appears
as the tutor in the family, the sister of the farmer's wife runs off
with the ploughman, after the minister and austere father had
bargained, the one with the wife, the other with her brother-
in-law, for her hand, and a portion with it. Near the end
Clinkverse says, '' There are several Gowks in Glendale besides
me to-night. She's over the border with Adam saw the Wind.^^
From a notice in the June number, one of ^^ the Gowks of
Glendale, without signing his name, complains of personality in
that dramatic piece." Some verses that I recently saw quoted
in a MS. genealogy of the Burrells of Howtel, Millfield, and
Broom Park, mention " the Gowks of Glendale," as arising from
an incident in the history of that family.

Turnip Rhyme.
About thirty-six years ago, the following verse was inscribed
on a finger-post, directing the way to Earle, Middleton,
Middleton Hall, &c. :—

Traveller, as you pass by,

Take a turnip if you are dry ;

One will not hurt you, two will transport you,

And three will condemn you to die.

Hedgehope, Cheviot, and Langleyford.

Hedgehope and Cheviot are pleasant bits of ground,
But such a spot as Langleyford is scarcely to be found.

Langleyford is a farm-house on Harthopeburn, at the foot

LOCAL SAYI^IGS, ETC. ' 13

of Cheviot and Iledgeliope, placed in a sheltered situation,
and a charming place for a summer residence. The rhyme
was repeated by a shepherd on the summit of Hedgehope,
which is the rival of Cheviot in catching the eye, but by no
means equal to it either in bulk, height, or variety of features.

Streets of Doddington.

Southgate and Sandgate and np (or down) the Cat Raw,
The Tinkler's Street, and Byegate Ha !

The Tinkler's Street is the principal passage, where muggers
set out their wares for the villagers' inspection. Byegate Ha !
was an old farmhouse. This village of yore was only a
collection of low-roofed thatched cottages, inhabited by farm-
servants, weavers, and shoemakers. There is a Northumbrian
pipe-tune still in vogue, entitled " Dorrington lads yet."

The following rhyme is still popular. It refers to a period
when the little tradesmen, mostly extinct now, had each a
" cuddie " to ride to Wooler and elsewhere for marketing and
on business. [Dorrington is the popular name of the place.]

Dorrington lads is bonny and Dorrington lads is canny,
And I'll hae a Dorrington lad, and ride a Dorrington cuddy.

Of this primitive village, which is situated at the foot of a hill
called Doddington Dodlaw, at no great distance from the river
Till, we have a picture as it existed in 1734, from Mark's
Survey. "It is remarkable for its largeness, the badness of
its houses and low situation, and perhaps for the greatest
quantities of geese of any of its neighbourhood, and is distin-
guished from all the rest in the county except Branxton for
having the chapel covered with heather and straw."

Ilka Day Burrell.

Within living memory the farm of South Doddington was
tenanted by a family named Burrell, but they left no posterity.

14 THE DENHAM TKACTS.

One of the ancestors was much disliked by the conterminous
occupants for his pilfering habits exercised at their expense,
he being a sort of daylight robber. The Scots thieves were a
grievance, but, as they pounced upon them only now and then,
their coming could not be calculated upon ; but Burrell's petty
depredations were so incessant that they demanded constant
vigilance and precaution. On this account they nicknamed
him " Ilka Day Burrell." In 1584 " Heiland or Border Theiff"
was reckoned among things irremediable, and so these Northum-
brians in the early part of the last century had viewed it.

Chatton Chalkless,
Chillingliam Cheeseless,
Horton Hogless,
Dorrington Dogless.

These four places thus denied their characteristics are
situated on the banks of the river Till.

The foot of Breamish and the head of Till,
Meet together at Bewick Mill.

Breamish and Till are the same river, the part above Bewick
Bridge being called Breamish, that below it Till. Horsley,
following Camden, makes the statement, that " near Brumford,
Brumridge, or Brounrigg, Glen and Bramish unite, and when
united bear the name of Till ;" but he goes on to say, '* accord-
ing to the country people, the name of Till begins at Bewick
Bridge, so that some part of Bramish, before its union with
Glen, carries the name." (Inedited Contributions to the Hist,
of Northumherland, p. 60.) Mackenzie also follows Camden.
Breamish is the Bromic of the Historia de S. Cuthherto ;
and the Browni, of Harrison's Description of England.

There will always be a Hall at Bewick.*
A family named Hall has lived from time beyond memory
* Arch, ^liana, n.s. vii. p. 92.

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 15

at Old Bewick, and there was still one of the name there when
this prophetic dictum was communicated to me, many years ago.

Here's the nail, but where's the hammer,
That killed John Kay at Lilburn Allots.

About 1811, in the neighbourhood of Rosedean, a farmhouse,
two or three miles distant from Lilburn Allers, noted for the
frequent robberies formerly happening near it, a murder was
committed upon the highway, unequalled in the annals of
atrocity. A journeyman mason, who lived at AVooler, in
returning from his work, in the glare of sunshine, was attacked
by an assassin, who, after perpetrating his murderous work,
coolly exchanged shoes with his victim. He then tossed him
over a dike, and having bent a bramble bush over the body, it
was some time before it was discovered. Such hellish delight
had been felt in the performance of this tragedy that (on the
authority of one of the gentlemen who sat on the coroner's
inquest, for the statement) the body was perforated by twenty-
one wounds, of which any of nineteen must have proved
instantly mortal. It is lamentable to add, that, though the
miscreant appears to have slept the following night in a field
of com adjoining the spot, he has never been traced, and the
blood of the murdered still cries to Heaven for vengeance. —
(Mason's Border Tour, pp. 206-7, Edin. 1826. Richardson's
Table Book, iii. pp. 112-113).

I have gleaned a few facts about this transaction. It was not
at Rosedean, but on the roadside, near Lilburn Allers, that the
murder was committed. The road is now changed. A stone
used to mark the spot It was supposed to have been a soldier
who did the deed ; a soldier's button was found near the spot,
and the wounds were bayonet wounds. The victim's name was
John Kay, and he resided in Wooler. He had that day received
some money from Mr. Collingwood of Lilburn, and was on his

16 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

journey home. Tlie money and liis watch were taken away.
There was a belief that it had been done partly through revenge.
A discharged soldier named Douglas, who belonged to Wooler,
but who had landed at Tynemouth that very day, was taken
upon suspicion, but owing chiefly to this circumstance he was
released. He and his children were avoided by all the towns-
people, and they always bore the character of an evil race.
Two years ago I copied Kay's epitaph in Wooler churchyard,
which fixes the date to have been the 27th of August, 1811, his
age being 27 years. He was married, and his only son in after
years emigrated to America. The saying is still common among
young people. The subject forms the incident of a story in the
Itinerant's Journal, a forgotten Edinburgh publication, of date
about 1832-3.

As lang as grund grows grass

And knout grows hair

Roddam of Roddam for evermair.

Variation of a rhyme given subsequently .— Gr. T.

Branton and Brandon, Fawdon and the Clinch,
Ingram and Reavely will put them to a pinch.

This looks like a portion of a hunting song. — W. Wightman.

Harrowqate's "White Horse.

And Crawley now
Frown'd from its height, with lordly look.

Hall's Widdrington, a Tale of Hedgley Moor, p. 48.

Antiquaries conjecture that Crawley may have been a Roman
station, and some of the earth-works still visible there are ascribed
to that people ; but the present roofless tower is of more modern
date, and, in all probability, formed one in the chain of fortresses
that extended across the country for protection against the
borderers, and certainly it is most admirably situated for such

I

LOCAL SAYIKGS, ETC. 17

a purpose, as it commands an extensive prospect all round for
manj miles. Tradition, without being supported by any historical
authority, says that the square keep or tower was built by a
famous "Eider" called Crawley; hence the place got its name.
The tower was at an after period the residence of one of the
author's ancestors named Harrowgate, of whom many anecdotes
are yet extant, and amongst others is the following : Mr. Har-
rowgate possessed a remarkably fine white horse, for he was not
behind his neighbours in making excursions north of the Cheviot,
and the then proprietor of the Crawley estate took so great a
fancy to this beautiful charger, that, after finding he could not
tempt Harrowgate to sell him for money, he offered him the
whole of this fine estate in exchange for his horse ; but Mr. H.,
in the true spirit of a border rider, made him this bold reply :
" I can find lands when I have use for them ; but there is no
sic a beast (i.e. horse) i' yon side o' the Cheviot, nor yet o' this,
and I wad na part wi' him if Crawley were made o' gold." How
little did the value of landed property appear in those days of
trouble and inquietude, and how much less were the comfort of
succeeding generations consulted ? The only property of value
then to a borderer was his trusty arms, and a fleet and active
horse, and these seem to have been the only things appreciated
by this old gentleman. — Widdrington, a Tale of Hedgleij Moor,
in two cantos. By James Hall. Alnwick, Printed by J.
Graham, Fenkle Street, 1827, royal 8vo., note at page 92.

Ye're like the Dead Wives o' Eslikgton, no' to lippen to.

Eslington is a seat of the Earl of Eavensworth, near Whit-
tingham. The saying is a misapplication or corruption of the
Berwickshire proverb, " Like the dead wife o' Earlstomi, no' to
lippen to."

K

18 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Ye'ke like Meg Macfarlane, who had a Twenty Hundred
Minds, whether to go for the Night to Whittingham or
TO Fishes-stead (or Fishers-stead).

Meg was a tall stout woman, who sold throughout the country
the heather-besoms manufactured by her father, Jamie Macfar-
lane, who during summer dwelt in a peage or divot-hut on
Belford Moor, where he found sticks for handles in the woods
for nothing. He had an alternative place of residence likewise
on Rimside Moor. Jamie, a long, lank man, had his wits about
him, and had a remarkable knowledge of the Scriptures ; but
Meg could rarely decide for herself. The question was put to
her, about mid-afternoon at Fowberry Newhall, where she was
bound for to-night ? to which she replied as above. Both places
are about twelve miles distant. Fishers-stead is said to be in the
Norham district. The saying is frequently adduced for the
benefit of those who hesitate in coming to a decision. There is
another saying about Meg or Peg, that, having friends both at
North Sunderland and Fountain Craig, she sat down on Belford
Moor, for a long time quite puzzled which she should visit, hence
the saying, " As sore puzzled as Peg Macfarlane, who didn't
know whether to go to North Sunderland or to Fountain Craig."

" You are as bad as the Kebs of Lorbottle,
Ye'll eat nineteen penny loaves to a pint
Of ye'll, and cry for more stuffing."

This is applied to gluttonous eaters. I do not certainly know
the meaning of Kebs — probably it is a corruption of Cubs, from
their unlicked condition (Geo. Tate), more likely of Keaves. —
See elsewhere.

It is also laid to their charge that they had to go to the door
to see the raindroj)s falling in the pools to be sure that it was
actually raining.

The expression had a proverbial aspect, being " Gang an' look

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 19

at the pools to see if it is raining, like the folks o' Lorbottle."
Mj informant, who was a native of the place, had also heard the
expression, " Gaed to catch the moon, like the folks o' Lorbottle."
See on this a subsequent paragraph.

Like the Wheat-stack o' Biddleston it had everything to

DEE (do).

This wonderful wheals stack was the resource of the future,
when any domestic want occurred or the payment of any debt
was required. '' Wait till the wheat-stack is threshed and then
you'll get it," the good man would say ; but the little rick was
quite inadequate to sustain the numerous claims dependent on
it. Biddleston is the seat of what Camden calls, even in his
time, " the worshipful family " of the Selbies (Horsley).

As Secure or Strong as Bambrough.

" That's as secure as Bambrough, Mr. Radley," said he.
"Did Morton not shake at the terrors of the clause of sale ?" —
The Mortgagee^ Edin', Cabinet Novels, i. 253, Edin. 1838.

" Radley assures me the title is as strong as Bambrough Castle,
and I have no doubt of it." — lb, p. 323.

BuDLE Cockles, etc.

These are famous. See Horsley's Northumberland^ p. 30;
also Oliver's Rambles in Northumberland, p. 207. Muffett, On
JFoofZ (London, 1655), says codlings are taken in great plenty
near to Bedwell in Northumberlandshire, p. 155. See also
Lovell On Animals.

Laidlaw woitn, seven miles east
And seven miles west,
And seven miles north and south ;
Neither corn nor grass conkl grow
For the veuom of his nioutb.

G. T.

C2

20 THE DENHAM TUACTS.

This is a verse of the " Laidley Worm of Spindleston-
Heugh " converted into a rhyme. The original verse is —

For seven miles east, and seven miles west,

And seven miles north and south,
No blade of grass or corn could grow,

So venemous was her mouth.

AuLD Alnwick.

This epithet occurs in lines inscribed to Thomas Donaldson,
called 7am q/ Glanton, and affixed to his poems, p. 15. Foems
chiefly in the Scottish Dialect ; both Humorous and Entertaining.
By Thomas Donaldson, vreaver, Glanton. Alnwick, Wm. David-
son, 1809.

The Earl op Northumberland's three Magi,

When he was prisoner in the Tower with Sir Walter Raleigh.
These were Thomas Hariot, " a gentleman of an affable, peaceable
nature, and well-read in the obscure parts 8f learning," who had
been with Sir Walter to America, and had been introduced by
him to the earl, who allowed him a pension of \20l. a-year;
Robert Hud and Walter Warner, two other mathematicians,
whom he also had pensioned. When the earl Was committed to
the Tower these were his constant companions, and were usually
called Earl of Northumheriandh Three Magi. They had a table
at his charge and did constantly converse with him and Sir
Walter Raleigh. — Hewitt's Visit to Remarkable Places, &c.

The Loyal Little Village of Felton.

This appellation was bestowed by the Duke of Cumberland
for the display of the zeal of the inhabitants when he and his
troops halted at the village, 28th Jan. 1746, on their march to
subdue the rebel Highlanders under " bonnie Prince Charlie."

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 21

" You SHOULD DO AS THE FoLK o' FrAMLINGTON DO, THEY HoUSE a'

THE Hares i' the Back End."

Long Framlincrtoii is a village in Felton parish, in proximity
to Rimside Moor. The inhabitants were given to poaching in
the autumn, and hence their jocular solicitude for the well-being
of the hares.

" The Folk o' Framlington say that none but Whores and
Blackguards Marry, Honest Folk take each other's Word."

This saying evinces a degraded state of moral feeling, at some
period of that place's history, which, it is hoped, has no exist-
ence now.

Piper Allan's Breed of Dogs.

" Crab, the Mugger's dog, grave, with deep-set melancholy
eyes, as of a nobleman (say the Master of Ravenswood. in dis-
guise), large visaged, shaggy, indomitable, came of the pure
Piper Allan's breed. This Piper Allan, you must know, lived
some two hundred years ago [this is, of course, a joke] in
Coquet water, piping, like Homer, from place to place, and
famous not less for his dog than for his music, his news, and his
songs. The Earl of Northumberland of his day offered the
piper a small farm for his dog, but after deliberating for a day,
Allan said, ' Na, na, ma lord, keep yir ferum ; what wad a
piper do wi' a ferum ? ' From this dog descended Davidson of
Hyndlee's breed, the original Dandie Dinmont, and Crab could
count his kin up to him." — Dr. John Brown's Horae Subsecivaej
2nd S. p. 162.

Jemmy Allan, " the Duke's piper," was born at Hepple Wood-
house, in 1734, and died in the House of Correction in Durham,
November, 13, 1810. Living much on the Coquet he drew part
of his subsistence from it. So attached was he to it that he com-
posed two tunes in its honour ; the one, " We'll a' to the Coquet
and woo," and the other, '^ Saumon Tails up the water." These

22 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

favourite tunes he always played with enthusiastic animation. —
Maxwell's Border Sketches^ ii. p. 111. Eichardson's 7 able-
Book, iii. p. 105.

The red bull of Berrington,

Gaed oure the bills to HaiTington,

And knock'd its head atween twae stanes,

And came milk-white back again.

A children's rhyme of Coquetdale origin, which shows at .least
the colour of the old Northumbrian cattle.

A Morpeth Compliment.

She gav' me nout i' plenty but her tongue,
0' that a Morpeth compliment she flung.

■ — Service's Metrical Legends of Norfhumberland, p. 140. Aln-
wick, 1834. [See "A Morpeth Welcome," elsewhere.]

" The Toon's a' wor awn."

This is an old exclusive saying in Morpeth. On the 6tli of
April, 1746, it was resolved by the Corporation, "That none
but a freeman or brother shall exercise the trade of a white-
smith, saddler, armourer, or hardv/areman within the borough."
The guild- books contain many similar resolutions respecting
other trades. — Wilson's Handbook to Morpeth, pp. 90-91.

Even dwellers in towns that have no corporate rights have a
prejudice against strangers settling among them. In the small
town of Wooler parties from a distance who marry town's-maids
are called " foreigners." Tliey are regarded as interlopers.

A Morpeth Borderer.

A native of Morpeth, by lawful calling a packman — a " needy
adventurer " from the south — was vending his goods in a farm-
house not many miles from Edinburgh, where an old eccentric

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 23

man was wont to visit, named Saunders Somerville. The mercer
had words and wares in abundance, but was sadly deficient in
the article of thought. Saunders again was exactly the oppo-
site ; and as he had listened with exemplary patience for a long
time, in the hope that the man's stories would draw to a close,
he seemed to enjoy a mental satisfaction in getting bare time to
spear (ask) : " And whar do ye come frae, Billy?" "From
the boa'der, sir," answered the southron. " I thought sae,"
said Saunders; *' weel, it's a pity." "And wherefore is it a
pity?" said the man of words, rather angry. " Oh," answered
Saunders, " because we aye count the selvage the warst pairt o'
the wab." — The Eev. Dr. Andrew Thomson, of St. George's,
Edinburgh, is the authority for this depreciatory skit on the
Borders.

Never saw the World till he gaed to Morpeth.

When this was spoken of one who knew only a country life,
Morpeth was the metropolis of the cattle trade for the north of
England, a traffic which it has now quite lost. It is even
deprived of the county jail, which has been transferred to
Newcastle. Morpeth is now a quiet place, and one hears less
about it than any other town of equal size in the district,
but it again appears to thrive, and of late has commenced
to extend and embellish its public buildings and streets.

Fenwick Shield (Parish of Stamfordham).

A calf, with two heads, uttered the following words when
born, and died immediately after : they relate to Fenwick
Shield :—

Twice burnt, once sunk,

And never more seen.

The popular belief is that the house is sinking. Some years
ago part of the kitchen fire-place is said to have sunk a few

24 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

inches. This I can easily believe, for on the south side of the
house there was a large decoy for wild fowl ; after the water
was let off, and the land drained, it is very possible that the
soil would settle down, and cause a shrink in the building. —
Rev. J. F. Bigge on Local Superstitions at Stamfordham, Tyne-
side Nat. Field Club, 1861, p. 95.

The Captain's Walk.

The Captain's Walk is a footpath from the Heugh bridge,
going eastward along the Pont side — or side of the river Pont:
a lady with a baby in her arms walks there and sings —

Hush a bah, baby,
Hush a bah bee.
'Twas Captain Walter
That killed thou and me.

lb. p. 95.

The son of Fair Mabel of Wallington hunted on a mare that
was never foaled, and with a pack of hounds that were never
whelpit.

Like himself, they were introduced into the world by the
Caesarian operation. I had the tradition from one born in the
vicinity.

" Fair Mabel" was bui-ied in Hexham Abbey ; the date appears
to be 1539 (Hewitt's Handbook to Hexham Abbey Church, p.
103). There are modern verses with the title in Richardson's
Table Booh, Legendary Division ; originally from Bell's Rhymes
of Northern Bards, pp. 147 — 149, Newcastle, 1812.

The Coal-Hole of the North, i.e. Newcastle.
Hewitt's Visit to Remarkable Places, p. 310.

" The Kichmokd Shilling."

An obnoxious tax on the coals of the river Tyne. — Table
Book, iv. p. 82.

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 25

The Spring Fleet
Of collier vessels from the Tyne.

Geordie and Jamie.

Mariners term a collier vessel from the Tyne a Geordie, and
from the Wear a Jamie. At sea they can distinguish the one
from the other by the different colours of their bows, sides
sterns, &c. — Padeutes, in Hogg's Instructor, ii. p. 316. See
afterwards, pp. 70, 71.

The Grand Allies.

The " Grand Allies " were a company of gentlemen, consist-
ing of Sir TJiomas Liddell (afterwards Lord Ravensworth), the
Earl of StratLmore, and Mr. Stuart Wortley (afterwards Lord
Wharncliffe) , the lessees of Killingworth Collieries. — Smiles's
Life of George Stephenson, p. 55.

Oh, horrid deed,

To kill a man for a pig's head.

This Tynemouth saying and legend is omitted by Mr.
Denham. There is a full notice of it in Richardson's Table
Booh. The stone on which it was inscribed is supposed to
have been one of the slabs erected to indicate the boundaries of
the sanctuary.

The Betsy Cains.

Feb. 17, 1827.— The Betsy Cains, of Shields, having sailed
from that port with a cargo for Hambro', met with a heavy
gale, and was obliged to bear up for Shields Harbour, but
when on Tynemouth bar she struck, and was afterwards
driven upon the rocks, near the Spanish battery. This remark-
able vessel would seem to have been built about the commence-
ment of the seventeenth century, for, before its conclusion, tradi-

2Q THE DENHAM TRACTS.

tion reported that even then she was " an old ship, but a lucky
and fast sailer." Before the 1 st of March she went to pieces. In
this forlorn and melancholy condition she presented an apt
emblem of fallen greatness, and exacted great public attention ;
indeed, at all times she was regarded with surprising interest,
and wherever she lay the sailors crowded to see her — the more
so, probably, from a memorable prophecy said to be connected
with the fate of this venerable ship, viz., that **' the Catholics
would never get the better while the Betsey Cains was afloat,"
and now that her hour was come, can our hardy mariners, as
remarkable for their superstition, be wondered at, when they
regarded the loss of the Betsy Cains as a serious injury to the
Protestant cause? — Richardson's Table Book, iii. pp. 339-341.

OviNGHAM Fair.

Ovingham Fair is on the 26th of Apx'd and 25th of October.
The day after the October fair is called " Gwonny Jokesane's
day" (why so is not known), and has been so called since the
recollection of the oldest living. A mayor is elected, and
carried in procession. On his advancing, his M'orship begins
thus : ''A yes ! twe times a yes ! an' three times a yes ! If
ony man, or ony man's man, lairds, loons, lubberdoons, dog-
skelpers, gabbrigate swingers, shall commit a parliament as
a twarliament, we, in the township o' Ovingham, shall hev his
legs, an heed, tied to the cog-wheel, till he say yonce, twice,
thrice prosper the fair o' Ovingham, on Gwonny Jokesane's
day." — Jackson the Painter, in Hone's Every Day Book, and
see Table Book, Leg. Div. iii. p. 198, &c.

I've been as far south as ye've been north. — A Wooler saying.

Canny Northumberland.

The phrase occurs in Chronicles of the Canongate, 1st S. li.
p. 206.

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 27

The Bold Borderers.

And bad him call the borderers bold,
And hold with him in readiness.

Battle of Flodden, p. 6.

The Stout Northumbrians.

" And if thou need Northumberland,"

Quoth he, " there be strong men and stout,

That will not stick, if need they stand.
To fight on horseback, or on foot."

lb. p. 4.

At the battle among the broom at Millfield, 1513, Sir Wil-
liam Bulwer

" Two hundred men himself did lead.
To him there came the borderers stout."

lb. p. 19.

" Formerly, the NorthumberIan(l Militia was, to a great
extent, formed of the peasantry who lived in the open country ;
and at the termination of the war in 1815 it was one of the
finest bodies of men in the service, and, when ranged in line,
stood on more ground, from the breadth of the men across the
shoulders, than any other regiment." — Mr. George Tate, in
Berwickshire Naturalists' CluVs Proceedings, vii. p. 135.

Border Marriages.

" The borderers were very particular in forming connections.
A stout man would not marry a little woman, were she ever so
rich ; and an Englishman was prohibited by the March laws
from marrying a Scotch woman, were she ever so honest." —
Dalyell's Fragments.

Manly strength is prized among the Northumbrian shepherd
families at the present day. In the district between the Cheviot

28 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Hill and the head of the Coquet, a young man was, not a great
many years since, courting a lass named Hedley, whom he
wished to marry. " Let him in among us," said the mother,
when the proposal came to be deliberated, "he's a grand
fighter."

The Northumbriak's Burr.

* * * * The Northumbrian dialect is a sort of mixture of
Lowland Scotch and north-country English, pervaded by the
strong hurr peculiar to Northumberland. It is related of a
Scotch lass who took service in Newcastle, that when asked how
she got on with the language, replied, she managed it very well
by " swallowing the r's, and gien them a bit chow i* the middle."
— Smiles's Life of George Stephenson, p. 3.

I note as other references to the Northumberland burr, Hogg's
Instructor, 2nd S. ii. p. 142 ; and Scots Mag. 1804, pp. 179, 180,
181; and 1802, pp. 959, 960.

English Koguks.

It is not above seventy years since a Scottish borderer, who
had left the fair at Wooler in company of an Englishman, and
shaken hands at parting, felt indignant with himself for having
travelled in peace with ^ false Southron. He therefore returned,

and saying, " Take that, you English rogue," struck his

late companion to the ground, and walked triumphantly away.
— Mason's Kelso Records, p. 112,

Anglicus est angelus, cui nemo credere potest ;
Cum tibi dicit ave, tanquam ab hoste cave.

Forduni Scotichron. i. p. 22, and ii. 309.

'•' Away, lubbard ; away blewcoit ; I defye the whyte cott ;
dyrt upon your teeth," This was a reproach cast out by the

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 29

besieged against the English soldiers, at the siege of Edinburgh,
March 1, 1571. — See Bannatyne's Transactions in Scotland,
p. 99.

The English soldiers had blue dresses. — See Stow.

" England is our auld enemies." — Bannatyne, p. 168.

This was a common expression at that period by party writers.

The ViLii Death of the Englishmen.

A great pestilence visited England from 1348 to 1357. It
began in Loudon, about the feast of All Saints, 1348. " Of the
common people, together with Religious and Clearkes, there
dyed an innumerable sort, for no man but God onely knew how
many. What time the pestilence had wasted all England, the
Scots greatly rejoycing, mocked and sware of times by the vile
death of the Englishmen ; but the sword of God's wrath slew
and consumed Scots in no lesse numbers then it did the other."
— Stow's Annales, p. 246. This plague having reached the
borders in 1349, caused the Scots to suspend their animosity.
Even in 1368 many tenements In the north of England lay
waste, owing to this great calamity and the Invasion of the
Scots, as appears by Inquisitions.

Traitor Scots.

When the Scots delivered up Charles I. to the Parliament for
payment of their arrears, " the English nation reproached them
with tlieir greed and treachery In the popular rhyme " —

Traitor Scot

Sold his king for a groat.
Scott's Tales of a Grandfather, 2nd S. i. p. 319.

Poor Scot

Seil'd thy king for a groat.

Scots Mag. 1806, p. 936.

30 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Tynedale Snatchers.

Full oft the Tynedale snatchers knock
At his lone gate and prove the lock.

Lay of the Last Minstrel.

The little Devil should be first exposed to the great Devil.

Siward (of Danish origin) was promoted to the Earldom of
Northumberland by Edward the Confessor, on the advice of his
great men, that, for the better protection of his kingdom against
the northern invaders, the little devil should he first exposed to the
great devil; meaning that Siward. should have charge of that
part of England which was most likely first to be invaded by
the Danes. — Kidpath's Bord. Hist. p. 54.

Chevy Chase.

Before the gates of Newcastle the famous Hotspur was un-
horsed by the gallant Douglas, and also lost his " staffe." The
spear and pennon of Percy were carried by Montgomery, his
captor at Otterburn, to Eglinton Castle, and when a late duke
asked their restoration the Earl of Eglinton replied, " There is
as good lea-ground here as on Chevy Chase — let Percy come
and take them." — Jeffrey's Roxburghshire^ ii. p. 239.

'' As long as Chevy Chase " is a popular expression in Ber-
wickshire for a tedious song.

Widdrington and his Stumps.

Master Linklater says to Master Kilderkin, who had not been
sufficiently active in catering provisions for royalty, '' Do not
tell me of the carrier and his wain, and the hen-coops coming
from Norfolk with the poultry ; a loyal man would have sent an
express-^ho would have gone upon his stumps like Widdrington."
— Fortunes of Nigel^ iii. p. 72.

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. .31

Till down he fell, yet falling fought,
And, being down, still laid about ;
As Widdrington, in doleful dumps,
Is said to fight upon his stumps.

Hudibras.

The reference in both is to the modern version of the ballad
of Chevy Chase —

For Witherington needs must I wayle,

As one in doleful dumps ;
For when his leggs were smitten off,

He fought upon his stumps.

The older version is much finer.

COUPLAKD, THE VALIANT KnIGHT.

The first person whom Edward III. made Sheriff of Rox-
burgh was the celebrated [Sir John] Coupland, who took
David II. prisoner at the battle of Durham. He was sheriff in
1347. Coupland held the sheriffship in Northumberland from
1350 to 1355. Coupland was celebrated among the men of
Northumberland as the Valiant Knight. He died in 1364, when
Alan de Strother was appointed in his stead. Jeffrey's Rox-
burghshire, ii. pp. 14 and 16 ; Wallis's Hist. Northumberland,
pp. 415, 416; Ayloffe's Calendar, p. 108; Chalmer's Caledonia,
ii. p. 97, note.

The Tek Towns of Glendale.

In August 5, 1557, the lord James, and the lord Robert,
the lord Home, warden of the east marches, and several other
nobles, with a considerable force, and some ordnance, entered
Northumberland by the dry marsh between Wark and Cheviot,
intending to take the castle of Ford and destroy the ten towns
of Glendale. — Ridpath's Bord. Hist. p. 586.

32 THE DENHAM TKACTS.

Flodden Edge.

" We were tauld," says Sir Mungo Malagrowther, an old
Scottish attendant of the Court of James I., " the loon threw
himself mto the Thames in a fit of desperation. There's enow
of them behind — there was mair tint on Flodden Edge." — For-
tunes of Nigel, ii. p. 76. This is equivalent to "mair fell at
Sheriflf-rauir."

The Busy Week.

While James I. — " gentle Jamie " — was progressing south,
the borderers, disliking idleness " when the Queen's death was
knowne," commenced operations on both sides, "the which was
called the busie week." Lord Hume received instructions to
repress them, and he appears to have made an excellent selec-
tion in appointing " Lord Cranstone to bee captayne of the
guard ; who did so much by his care and vigilance that a num-
ber of outlawes were brought to the place of execution, where,
after lawful assize, they had a reward of their past follies.
Their names and surnames," quoth John Monipennie, " for
brevity we omit. Some of them who might have lived upon
their rente, if so they could bee content, but so prone were
they to inbred vyse, received from their forefathers, and
drunken in their adolescencie, they never leaft oflF their first
footsteps until they runne headlong to their owne destruction."
— {SummariBj ^-c. printed at Brittaine's Burse, by John Bridge,
1612.) Maxwell's Hillside and Border JSketches, i. pp. 213-214.

The Foul Eaid ; i.e., The Dishonourable Eaid.

The inroad of Albany into England in 1417, when he Avas
compelled to retire before the forces of the Dukes of Exeter and
Bedford. — Scott's Scotland, i. p. 251. See Pinkerton's Hiift.
Scot. i. p. 98.

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 33

Thk Dirtin Raid. _^

Another successless expedition of the governor in 1422. — See
Ridpath, Bord. Hist. p. 388.

The Devil's Road — The III Rode.

The name given by the Scots to the raid of 1513, when
defeated among the broom of Milfield Plain.

In August month this broil befell,
Wherein the Scots lost so much blood

That mournfull when the tale they tell.
They call it now " The Devil's Road."

Flodden Field, p. 21.

In this incursion, defeated by Sir Edward Bulmer, Lord
Hume lost 500 or 600 of his men, 400 prisoners, and his
banner. '^ This by the Scots was called the III Rode.''^ — Baker's
Chronicle, p. 260. Modern writers, unwitting of the significa-
tion of the word rode^ road, or raid, explain it as applied to the
road through Milfield Plain by which the Scots fled from their
ill-fated enterprise.

In one place of his Annales, p. 432, Stow makes what on this
mistaken signification would be rather a serious undertaking,
viz., that King James " caused his subjects to make roades into
English borders."

" A Warden Raid," or " Day op Trewes," on the Border.
Darcy's Good Fortune.

In October, 1532, Henry VIII. sent Sir Arthur Darcy to
Berwick with 300 tall men for the defence of the English
border. The Scots soon after Darcy's arrival, to show that
they were not afraid of him, made an inroad by the Middle
Marches as far as Fowberry; in which inroad they burnt

P

34 THE DENHAM TKACTS.

several villages. Not content with doing this mischief thej
boasted of it, saying that Darcy had brought them good fortune,
and that he and Angus slept icell at Berwick. — llidpath's Bord.
Hist. p. 532.

Hadaway.

This, says Wm. Brockie, is a Northumbrian name, from Had
away ! a term of encouragement used by the clan in their forays
or raids. — FclTcs of Shields, p. 67.

The Northumberland Tartan.
The check of the cloth of shepherds' plaids is so called.

Northumbrian Tunes or Songs that relate to Places, &c.

" Chevy-Chase."

" Sir John Fenwick's the Flower among them." — Richard-
son's Table Book, i. p. 334.

*' Fenwick of Bywell's away to Newmarket."

" Show me the way to Wallington."

" Dorrington Lads yet."

" Felton Lonning." — Farrier's Poems, p. 101 ; seeMhT/mes on
Felton Lonning.

" The Midford Galloway." By Thomas Whittle. " To the
tune of Banting Roaring Willy." — Bell's Rhymes of Northern
Bards, pp. 175—180.

" Wylam away." John Jackson, the engraver, mentions
this in his account of Ovingham fair.

" We'll a' to the Coquet an' woo."

Names of Local Regiments.

'' The White Stocking Regiment." A number of volunteers
in Newcastle, in 1740, who associated for the preservation of
the peace of the town. " They consisted of some middle-aged
gentlemen of different professions, but the most part of young

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 35

men, several of whom were merchants' apprentices, and on
account of their wearing white stockings were called and are
still remembered by the name of the White Stocking Regiment.
— ^Richardson's Table Booh, i. p. 400.

'* The Cheviot Legion." A body of volunteers, whose capital
was Wooler. At the time of the " False Alarm " these were
marched as far as Whittingham.

" Tlie Coquetdale Rangers " were raised in the vale of the
Coquet.

" The Durham Rangers." All that I know of this is that
there was a dancing tune of this name, and the only words
sung to it were —

" He's away wi' the bonnie Durham Rangers, ! "

Northumbrian Productions.
Newcastle coals ; Tweed and Tyne salmon ; Hexham glovers,
Hexham gloves, and Hexham tans (strong gloves of fine
leather) ; Cheviot sheep ; Cheviot honey ; Alnwick tobacco ;
Scremerston lime ; Budle cockles ; Boulmer or Boomer gin ;
Glanton greens, a particularly good kind of gooseberry ; Bed-
lington terriers.

Natural Objects.

" St. Cuthbert's Ducks " [Somateria mollisima), which breed
on the Fame Islands, are so called from St. Cuthbert, their
patron ; in Berwickshire they are still called " Cud-doos," i.e.
Cuthbert's pigeons. " St. Cuthbert's Beads " are fragments
of fossil encrinites, &c. " Askew's Ducks," or " Pallinsburn
Ducks," are the black-headed gulls {Larus ridihundus) which
breed in Mr. Askew's lake, in front of his residence at Pallins-
burn. "Scremerston Crows" are the grey- backed or hoodie
crow {Corvus comix), because they frequent the coast there-
abouts in winter and spring.

J>2

36 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

" New Chape] Flower " {Orobanche ma jus ?) " Orohanche,
Chokewede, growetli in many places in England, both in the
northe countre besyde Morpethe, whereas it is called our Lady
of New Chapellis flour, and also in the south countre, a lytle
from Shene, in the broom-closes." " This herbe is called about
Morpeth, in Northumberland, new-chappell floure, because it
grew in a chappel there, in a place called Bottel (Bothal)
Bankes, where as the unlearned people dyd worshippe the
Image of synt Mary, and reckened that the herbe grewe in that
place by the virtue of that Image." — Turner's Herbal, 1564,
1566. Part ii. fol. 71 ; Part i. fol. 88.

" Framlington Clover" {Prunella vulgaris), prevalent in
stiff clayey soils above the coal, near Long Framlington,
Northumberland. About Hauxley, in the same county, it is
termed " Jamie Hedley's Clover," from the following circum-
stance: — Hedley's father wanted to take a farm then vacant,
but being blind sent out his son Jamie to report on its capa-
bilities. Jamie remarked one field in particular very green
and closely planted with herbage, and returning to his father
says, " Feyther, yon's grand land ; it's grown full o' clover.'^
The " clover " was the weed, indicative of sterility. In Ber-
wickshire it is known as ^' Poverty Pink."

Lang Lowick.

The epithet lang is applied to this scattered village, which is
situated on a ridge, and at a distance appears to be unnaturally
prolonged. There are, or have been, other lengthy hamlets or
steadings in Northumberland, e. g. Long Edlingham, Long
Horsley, Long Framlington, Long Benton, Longhirst, Langton,
Longridge, Langshaws, Langlee, Langleyford, Langley, Lang-
dike-head, Langdikes, etc.

LOCAL SAYINGS, ETC. 37

A COQUETDALE MaN AND A ReDESDALE MaN.

Speaking of the laziness of the Coquetdale " hinds " (plough-
men) it was said — You may know a Coquetdale man and a
Redesdale man by their conduct in this respect, that the Coquet-
dale man sits on the top of his loaded cart, but the Redesdale
man walks alongside of it.

The Cubs of Lorbottle.

They got a weather-glass, and seeing the mercury fall, they
hid it, and put out tubs to see if it was raining, as they could
not decide otherwise.

The Wheat-stack of Biddleston.

Every wheat-head had a craver, like the wheat-stack of
Biddleston.

38 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

II.

A COLLECTION OF EARE AND POPULAR RHYMES,
PROVERBS, SAYINGS OF REPROACH AND PRAISE,
&c., &c., RELATING TO THE CITY OF DURHAM AND
ITS INHABITANTS.

" Brave Durham I behold, that stately seated town."

Drayton.

'Tis certain that the Dun Cow's milk
Clothes all the Prebends' wives in silk ;
But this, indeed, is plain to me.
The Dun Cow's self is a shame to see.

The lec^end of the Dun Cow, in connection with our citv, must
be familiar to every inhabitant of the bishoprick.

The old sculpture of the Dun Cow and the two females was
truly a sorry affair, and, as the rhyme sings or says, " a shame
to see"; yet no more so than the rude rhymes of the critic.
Sir Cuthbert Sharp, in his Bishoprick Garland, says that these
lines are ancient ; but the mention of the prebends' wives tells
me that it cannot be older than three centuries ; probably
nothing near so much. The original figures were erected
during the episcopacy of Ralph Flambard, at the commence-
ment of the twelfth century, in grateful remembrance and com-
memoration of the milkmaid, who so fortunately, in the great
perplexity of the wandering monks, directed them to Dunholme,
where St. Cuthbert was to rest until the day of resurrection.
The present sculpture, which ornaments the west corner tower
of the eastern transept of Durham cathedral church, Avas
chiselled by John Purday, a mason living in the South Bailey.

POPULAR EHTMES, ETC., EELATING TO DUEHAM. 39

I AM THE Bishop op Durham's Fool : Pray whose Fool are you ?

During the abode of King Charles I. in the Castle of Durham
(mdclxiii) Dicky Pearson, the bishop's fool (and the last indi-
vidual, it is supposed, v;ho was maintained by our bishops in
that capacity) , seeing the Earl of Pembroke richly and fantas-
tically dressed, accosted him very brotherly, " Sir, I am the
bishop of Durham's fool. Whose fool are you ?"

A tradition is still current that one of the splendid robes
which King Charles wore at the abbey was embroidered with
the history of David, bearing in his hand Goliath's head. —
Surtees's Hist, of Durham.

Too DEAR FOR THE BiSHOP OF DuRHAM,

It would appear from the above that the bishops of Durham
have been proverbial for their riches from a very early period.
In the thirteenth century a piece of cloth, richly embroidered, Avas
offered for sale, but was held up at so high a price that even the
nobles themselves either refused or durst not buy. This coming
to the ears of Anthony Bek, then bishop of Durham, he went
immediately and purchased it, and ordered that it should be
cut into cloths for his sumpter-horses. It is likewise recorded
that at one time in London our bishop gave xl s. for forty fresh
herrings.

Thomas Ruthal, who was bishop of Durham in the reigns of
Henry VII. and VIII., was considered the richest subject in
Britain, and singularly unfortunate in the mistake he made in
delivering the hohe of his own private affairs to the aspiring
Cardinal Wolsey, instead of the one he had written on The State
of the Kingdom, by the desire of his Sovereign, whereby the
Cardinal effected his ruin, and stepped into his bishoprick.

As Peppery as Durham Mustard.

A proverbial saying extremely applicable to persons of hot
temperament, especially those of the feminine gender.

40 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

The cathedral church of Durham is dedicated to St. Cuthbert,
and that of York to St. Peter.

Stowpe, Cuddle, and bowe thy brie,

To Peeres of Yorke our Legate borne ;

Look well a bout, and take good e'e,
Lest now tliy cause be quite forlorne ;

Stowpe, good Cuddie, and bowe thy knee.

Lest thunderbolts beginne to flee.

These verses are said to have been made by " a learned and
pleasaunt poet, aboute the yeer of our Lorde mcccx, or there-
abouts, when the see of Yorke beganne to arme themselves
against the church of Durham, with power legatle." — Mickle-
toii's MSS i. p. 315.

In the year MCCXCiii, or iiii, the archbishop of York was
committed to the Tower for his contempt of the king in ex-
communicating the bailiff of the bishop of Durham.

A BuTTERBY Church-goer.

To hear many of the inhabitants of the city of Durham talk,
a stranger would suppose that the hamlet of Butterby was in
possession of a bond fide religious edifice ; the fact is, that in the
slang of Durham (for the modern Zion has its slang as well as
the modern Babylon) a Butterby church-goer is one who does
not frequent any clmrcli at all ; and when such an one is asked,
" What church have you attended to-day ?" the customary
answer is, " I have been attending service at Butterby." — See
Hone's Table Book, i. col. 368-9.

The Golden Prebends op Durham.

So called owing to the extreme richness or value of the
yearly income arising from the lands attached to many of the
stalls in that cathedral church.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 41

Run away Doctor Bokanki [or Bocanki].

The civil broils which filled England with distraction under
the reign of Charles I. greatly affected this Palatinate. A
war with Scotland took place, and its army entered England
on the xxth of August, mdcxl, and marched to Newburn, on
the banlvs of the Tyne. A skirmish ensued, for it could not be
called a battle, and the Scots army gained the pass. A panic
seized the whole country. As for the city of Durham, it
became a depopulated place ; not a shop, for iv days after the
fight took place, was opened, and not one house in ten that had
either man, woman, or child in it ; not one bit of bread to be
got for money ; the country people durst not come to market,
which made the city in a sad condition for want of bread. Dr.
Walter Balcanqual, dean of Durham, fled away with extreme
precipitation, because he understood the Scots gave out that
tliey would seize upon him as an incendiary for writing the
king's Large Declaration against them. All the rest of the
clergy of Durham ran away also.

Bokanki, it would appear, was a by-name applied to our
dean during his life. The saying is now used by the school-
boys and young collegians of Durham to any of their mates and
chums who are guilty of a mean or cowardly act. — Surtees's
Hist, of Durham^ i. p. xcvi.

* The monks of Durham made fat kail
On Fridays when they fasted,
&c. &c. &c.

In this particular the Benedictines of Durham would not be
singular; it might also be said, no doubt with equal truth, of
the monks of Finchale, Wearmouth, Jarrow, Lindisfarne, and

* In the original these and the other rhymes are in small capitals.

42 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

every other well-endowed religious house in the kingdom ; and
who could blame them ? Not I, truly, for there is much truth
contained in the good old northern proverb —

A tume [that is, empty] belly makes a lazy back.

Sir Walter Scott gives the following stanza as the old words
of " Galashiels," a favourite Scottish air : —

the Monks of Melrose * made good kale

On Fridays when they fasted ;
They wanted neither beef nor ale

As long as their neighbours' lasted.

See Chambers' Pop. Rhymes Scot. 3rd ed. 1847, p. 42 (edition
1870, p. 244); also Allan Kamsay's Evergreen, Edin. 1761,
ii. p. 239.

York has the Highest Eaok, but Durham has the Deepest

Manger.

Though York be graced with a higher honour, Durham is
the wealthier see. Tobias Matthew is reported to have said, on
his resigning Durham for York, that he did it " for lack of
grace." In the sixteenth century pun and quibble were in high
esteem, and a man was to expect no preferment, either in
Church or State, who was not a proficient in that kind of wit.
" I like the crazy old bishop's ' nolo episcopari ' on the subject
cf his York preferment," quoth Sir Walter Scott.

Hac sunt in fossa
Bedee Venerabilis ossa. f

* It is properly the monks of Fail (in Ayrshire),
f Also in large letters in original. To make it correct it should
be Bedae. The correct reading is in Jackson's Pulpit Beminiscences,
p. 32, thus —

Hac sunt in fossa,

Bedse venerabilis ossa. — See the legend, I.e. pp. 31-2.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 43

This faithful servant of God was born at or in the neighbour-
hood of Jarrow, a.d. dclxxii, and died the xxvi day of May,
Dccxxv. The name of Bede has been preserved with the
honour which he so worthily obtained through many later
generations. His chair, an old massive oaken seat, is still at
Jarrow ; his bones were conveyed to Durham, where the
princely bishop, Hugh Pudsey, nephew of K. Stephen, en-
closed them in a casket of gold and silver in that part of the
cathedral called the Galilee. An altar-tomb is now raised over
the place, with the above inscription restored to record his
worth, which may be thus translated : —

Here in this grave rest the bones of Venerable Bede. Or,
Here beneath these stones, lie Venerable Bede's bones.

Durham is built upon Seven Hills.

Viewed from the north, the city of Durham seems to be
scattered over a multitude of irregular hills ; and we discover
parts of the town, the castle, and the churches, through several
valleys in one point of view, so that they appear like so many
distinct places. The west front of the castle is seen on the
summit of a steep and deep rock, with some parts of the
cathedral ; and the street of St. Giles, as if totally unconnected
with the rest of the town, is spread over the brow of a distant
eminence. The hollow passes among the hills on the north-
west of the city afford beautiful and pictm'esque prospects. In
fine, its situation and figure being so peculiar have occasioned
its being emphatically called the " English Sion."

Hegg, who wrote the legend of St. Cuthbert, says in reference
to Durham, " He that hath scene the situation of this citty
liath seene the map of Sion, and may save a journey to Jeru-
salem." Hegg wrote his book in mdcxxvi.

Durham has also been whimsically compared to a crab, the
market-place representing the body and the streets the claws.

44 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Rhyme on Sir John Duck.

On Duck the butchers shut the door,

But Heslop's daughter Johnny wed ;
In mortgage rich, in offspring poor,

Nor son nor daughter crown'd his bed.

Sir John Duck, the richest burgess in the civic annals of
Durham, was bred a butcher under John Heslop, in defiance
of the trade and mystery of butchers, in whose books appears
the following entry: — "That he {i.e. Heslop) forbear to sett
John Duck on work in the trade of butcher." Duck, however,
grew rich, and married the daughter of his master, and even-
tually was created a baronet by James II.

Tradition tells that after he was cast out by ilie butchers of
Durham, and in a state of extreme despondency, a raven flying
over his head let fall a piece of silver, which lucky incident made
a strong impression on his mind. With the money he bought
a calf; this calf with care and perseverance ere long became a
cow ; the cow became a herd of cattle, and in the course of a
few years he realised a splendid fortune. He built himself a
noble mansion in Silver Street, and endowed a hospital at
Lumley, probably the place of his birth. His death took place
xxvi August MDCXCI, and he was buried beside his wife at the
church of St. Margaret, on Monday, the thirty-first day of the
same month. Of his birth, parentage, and education, nothing
is known. — See Ducks, p. 49.

Here lies Cooper all alone,
Matthew is dead, the base is gone.

Said to have been written on old Matthew Cooper, clerk,
M.A., one of the petit canons and singing-men of the cathedral
church of Durham.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 45

As Cunning as a Crafty Cradock.

It appears to be more than probable that John Cradock, vicar
of Gainford, mdxciv, might have given rise to the proverb.
He was a high commissioner for Durham, a justice of the peace,
the bishop's spiritual chancellor, and vicar-general. He con-
founded the jurisdiction of the above offices, and made one
to assist the other. He took bribes as a magistrate, and did
numerous other underhand practices. Mr. Walbran, in his
History of Gainford, records a few of his crafty misdeeds. —
Vide p. 82, &c.

Mr. Ray gives the above proverb thus : "As cunning as a
Cradock, &c.," but as to what is included in the "et cetera"
I am at a loss to imagine.

Khyme on Barnabas Hutchinsoh.

Under this thorn tree
Lies honesfc Barnabee :
But where he is gone,

To Heaven or Hell,
I freely do own

I cannot tell.

" Honest Barny " was a proctor of Durham, and died the
xviiith of March, mdcxxxiv. His remains were interred
beneath the shadow of an ancient thorn.

Black- Boy and Billy-row,
Sunny-Side and Shiney-row,
"White Smocks and Mally Bow.

The first five villages, &c., are situated in the vicinities of
Bishop Auckland, the city of Durham, and Sunderland. Mally-
Bow is, I take it, the corrupted familiar of ]\Iary-le-Bow, the
name of one of the churches of Durham.

46 THE DENHAM TKACTS.

Go TO BiDDICK !

An inelegant maledictory expression, almost peculiar to the
city of Durham, parallel with the equally elegant canny New-
castle phrase, —

Go to Shields !

And fish for eels, —

which we occasionally hear varied to "And shave Ducks/'
We have also, in the south of England, " Go to Bath !" and in
Scotland '' Go to Fruchie ! " the whole of which are pretty
much on a par with the still more impious one of "Go to the
devil and. shake yourself." North Biddick, near Chester-le-
Street, is celebrated in the mythology of the bishoprick for
being situated near unto the Worm Hill, around, which the
most famous dragon, serpent, or worm of Lambton, is said to
have " lapped itself six times, leaving vermicular traces, of
which grave living witnesses depose that they have seen the
vestiges." — See Surtees's History of Durham.

Durham, the only fikished town in England.

Neither addition, alteration, or improvement is said to take
place here, for, like its ancient prototype (Jerusalem), it re-
mains in much the same condition in which it appeared many
centuries ago — or rather, if possible, perhaps worse ! [This
cannot be said of it in the year of grace, 1880 !]

Hugh Pudsey, the Young Earl and Old Bishop.

When Pudsey, bishop of Durham, had begun to rue his vow
of going on a crusade, King Richard, more desirous of the
bishop's gold than his services, proposed to dispense with his
vow, and offered to appoint him one of his regents during his
absence. Our bishop's vanity now kindled into a blaze, and he
readily accepted the offer. On which the king applied to bor-

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 47

row the money which the prelate had collected, and this brought
on a bargain for the purchase of the earldom, wapentake, and
manor of Sadberge, to be annexed to the see of Durham for
ever, together with the earldom of Northumberland for life, for
which the bishop was to pay the sum of 11,000^ The youth-
ful king, when he girt the bishop with the military sword, could
not forbear his derision of the inconsistency of the prelate's
character, and turning to his nobles, merrily laughing, said :
" Am not I cunning, and my craftes-master, that can make a
yonge earle of an oulde bishoppe ?" — [Lambarde styles Pudsey
^' the joly byshop of Durham."]

A Ddnelm op Crab.

A piece of rather aunciente cookery of a very gouty character.
Dr. Hunter says that it takes its name from an old city in the
north of England, where '*good eating" and " good drinking"
are considered synonymous terms.

Ye're like the Bishop's Mother, ye're nivver content, nowther
full nor fasting.

Upon the elevation of Robert de Insula to the See of Dur-
ham, A.D. MCCLXXiv, he gave to his aged mother, who was still
living a life of poverty and privation in her island home of
Lindisfarne, now Holy Island, what he conceived an ample
provision and honourable establishment. He surrounded her
with men-servants and maid-servants suitable to her income.
But the poor old widow, instead of being elated with at least
her own good fortune, became so much the more wretched and
unhappy in proportion as the number of her household servants
were increased and her means enlarged. The bishop shortly
atterwards went to pay his parent a visit at the place of his
nativity ; when, to his great grief, he found the ancient lady,
his mother, in not only a very sorrowful mood, but also in a

48 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

very ill- humour to boot. He asked, " And how fares my sweite
mother ? " " Never worse !" quoth she. ^' And what ails thee
or troubles thee ? Hast thou not men and women and attend-
ants sufficient ? " " Yea," quoth she, " and more than enow. I
say to one ' go ' and he runs ; to another ' come hither, fellow,'
and the varlet falls down on his knees ; and in short all things
go on so abominably smooth that my heart is bursting within
me for something to spite me, and pick a quarrel withal." This
unhappiness still increasing, she ere long begged to be restored
to her solitary life with a moderate competency.

This is all consistent with reason and daily experience. Her
habits had too long been formed, and she was too far advanced
in years, to lay them aside and begin to ape the manners of a
gentlewoman.

He's a Durham M^n ; he's Knocker Kneed.

From the effects, I suppose, of his grinding mustard with his
knees. Durham at one period was celebrated for its manufac-
ture of mustard. [See Saying on the Seven Celebrities of Dur-
Jidniy p. 55.] The saying given in the text is noticed by Grose
in his Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. It is also a common
remark on a " knocker " or in-kneed person that " He grinds
mustard with his knees."

The City of Priests.

For many centuries Durham has been proverbial for the
number of priests within its walls. This may readily be
accounted for both in its ancient and modern establishments ;
originally as the seat of the quondam priory, and in the present
day of the cathedral church of the diocese. Of late years its
celebrity has been still farther increased by the foundation of a
regular university establishment, which may God bless and
prosper as long as the city exists !

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO LURHAM. 49

Ducks.

Coals are occasionally, still proverbially, so-called in th« city
of Durham, from Sir John Duck, the famous butcher and
merchant ; but why, I wot not. However, it is possible our
" knight of the cleaver " might be the owner of the colliery
from whence the Durhamites were chiefly supplied with fuel at
that period of time. — {See rhyme on Sir John Duck, p. 44.)

The City of Durham is famed for Seven things : Wood, "Water,
Pleasant Walks, Law, Gospel, Old Maids, and Mustard.

The situation of the city of Durham is singularly and
majestically grand ; in England we have no other town or city
to compare with it. The river Wear nearly surrounds it, and
its bold and precipitous banks are clad with trees, or cultivated
as garden-ground, advantage being taken, here and there,
of the occasional terraces whereon to erect groups of dwelling-
houses. The castle with its embattled keep, and the noble
and massive pile of the venerable cathedral of St. Cuthbert,
crown the lofty eminence and overhang the romantic banks of
the river. In truth, a more remarkable or finer situation could
not possibly be chosen whereon to build a city, either as
regards beauty or security. The walks in connection with
the city in every direction are numerous, and exquisitely
beautiful and enchanting. Yet here all praise must cease,
for a dirtier city than Durham, it is universally allowed, does
not exist in the whole length and breadth of Her Majesty's
dominions. Well might the native minstrels parody the well
known song, and sing :

50 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Through Scotland and Engleland tho' we may roam,
And towns e'er so dirty, there's no place like Dor'm.
No charm from the sky seems to hallow us there,
Which seek the world thro' you'll ever meet with elsewhere.

Dor'm, Dor'm, dirt, dirty Dorm ;
There is no place like Dor'm,
There is no place like Dor'm !

The lawyers and the clergy form so numerous a class tliat
they may be said to embrace nearly the whole portion of the
upper grades of society within the bounds of the city; In the
annals of Durham we meet with numerous instances where the
former (good honest men and true) have attained that amount
of honour and wealth which has descended to their children and
children's children, through a long lapse of time.

See illustration on the characteristic, the City of Priests.

As touching the two concluding celebrities, to wit, old maids
and mustard, they are^ as every one I think will allow, just as
nearly allied, both in their natures and properties, as misers
and money. First then, old maids. For a long, very long
series of years, the city of Durham has enjoyed a more than
abundant share of old maggotty young ladies, otherwise " old
virgins,* whose peculiarly picturesque appearance in gait or
person instantly betrays their " aunciente maydenhode," wher-
ever and whenever you meet them, whether in unos, or in duos,
trios, or quartos. Less than seventy years ago one of these
trios (sisters by-thc-bye) were of that singularly forbidding
aspect that they were popularly known in and around the city
by the cognomens of Plague, Pestilence, and Famine. f

At no very distant epoch, Durham was highly celebrated for

•"Mrs. Dongwith, old virgin, Elvet, buried 17 June 1779." —
Cath. Keg. book.

f With equal, if not greater propriety, they might have been named
Envy, Hatred, and Malice.

POPULAK EHYMES, ETC., EELATING TO DURHAM. 51

the manufacture and superior quality of its mustard ; but row,
alas ! other places more favourably situated for trade and com-
merce have superseded it, and at the present day —

Its honours are gone, and its glories all flown,
And it is no longer a fam'd mustard town ! !

I conclude with a short sketch from the early history of this
now much used and healthful condiment: '' Prior to the year
1720 there was no such luxury as mustard, in its present form,
at our tables. At that time the seed was coarsely pounded in
a mortar, as coarsely separated from the integument, and in
that rough state prepared for use. In the year mentioned it
occurred to an old woman of the name of Clements, residing in
Durham, to grind the seeds in a mill, and pass it through the
several processes which are resorted to in making flour from
wheat. The secret she kept many years to herself, and, in the
period of her exclusive possession of it, supplied the principal
parts of the kingdom, and in particular the metropolis, with
this article. George the First stamped it with fashion by his
approval. Mrs. Clements as regularly twice a year travelled to
London, and the principal towns throughout England, for
orders, as any tradesman's rider of the present day ; and the
old lady contrived to pick up not only a decent pittance, but
what was then thought a tolerable competence. From this
woman's residing in Durham it acquired the name of Durham
Mustard.* — (Extracted from Richardson's Table Book, " Le-

* In the Household Book of the fifth Earl of Northumberland,
temp. Hen. VIII. (1512), I find an order made for the provision of
160 gallons of mustarde for the use of the *' house for one hole year."
And that the " somme paide for the full contontacion of the said
mustarde for oone hole yere ys xxxiiij s. iiij d." A later item in the
said book orders " that whereas mustarde hath beyn boglit of the
Sawce-Maker aflforc tyme, that now it be made within my Lordis Hous,
and that one be providid to be groome of the skullery that can make it.*'

e2

■52 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

gendary Division/' vol. ii. p. 339 ; but originally from the
Gentlemaii's Magazine.)

A saying about the ancient city of Durham also occurs in
a trio of urban celebrities, in hoc modo, " Bishop's Palace and
Jock's Rovr ; * Durham for wealthy priests, old maids, good
mustard, simple magistrates, and unoorrupt jurors ; Darlington
for quakers, tammy weavers, and a bad foundation ! "

Additional Sayings.

[If ye had your due you would be walking up Framwell-
gate, with a white napkin round your head, on the road to
Pity me !

A clerical friend told me that an old woman in Durham,
when in a vituperative mood, was thus accustomed to shout to
those of her neighbours who had offended her. Framwellgate
is a street in Durham, and by it condemned criminals had to
pass to the gallows, which stood where the north road left the
town, in a field called " Pity me," so termed, doubtless, from
the neck verse Miserere mei, &c.

There is an old example of Newcastle slang, in the Deposi-
tions, &fG. before the Court at Durham,^'' p. 89, which is equally
expressive : " Defamatio, 26 Oct. 1658. Margaret Nicolsor,
single woman, against Agnes, wife of Robert Blenkinsop, in
causa deff. viz., ' hyte hoore, a whipe and a cast and a franc
hoode,f waiesme % for the, my lasse, wenst § have a halpeny
halter for the to goo up Gallygait and be hanged ? ' "

"There's not much law at Durham for a happeny." This is
spoken of the heavy expenses attending the Probate Court at

* The highest and lowest places in the town, both as regards
situation and external appearances.

fThe frenchhood was probably another name for the branks, an
instrument or head-dress used in Newcastle to punish scolds.

I Wae is me. § Wilt thou.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 53

Durham, and the obtaining of extracts from wills which arc
deposited there. It is a common saying at Newcastle. — J. H.]

Eare and Popular Rhymes, Proverbs,
Sayings, Characteristics, Re-
proaches, &c., &c., Relating to
the Inhabitants of Certain
Towns and Villages ;
and also to parti-
cular Families
and Indivi-
duals in
the
Bishoprick of Durham.

The prior of Finchale has got a fair wife,
And every old monk will soon have the like.

The following variorum reading occurs in Mickleton's MSS.
preserved in Bishop Cousin's library, Durham: —

The prior of Finkela hath got a fair wife.
And every monk will have one.

This couplet came into existence immediately following the
period of the Reformation. The last prior of Finchale took to
himself a wife the moment he considered himself released from
his monastic vows by having the gates of his convent closed
upon him by Henry, the eighth of that name.

The last prior of Finchale was William Bennet, appointed in
MDXXXVI. Doctor of Divinity in Durham College, Oxford, vth
July, MDXXXV. After the Dissolution he became the first pre-
bendary of the ivth stall in Durham Cathedral. He married
Ann Thompson. In MDLXXi he was vicar of Kelloe, which he
resigned in mdlxxix. He also held the vicarage of Aycliffe
alono; with his stall in the cathedral. His will bears date
iv. April, MDLXXXill, and has been printed by the Surtees

54 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Society in the Proceedings of BUhop Barnes. It proves him (in
the Inventoiy) to have heen rich in plate and furniture, and to
have had his barns and granaries Avell plenished. His books
were valued at five shillings only I He left three sons, Isaac,
Robert, and John, and one daughter, Jane. According to
Hutchinson (vol. ii. p. 183) his great-grandson was living at
Aycliffe in 1717. He had a brother, Robert (also a monk),
who became ihe first prebendary of the xi stall and vicar of
Gainford. The will of the latter was printed by the Surtees
Society, among other Durham Wills, in 1835.

During a long series of years antecedent to the period of the
Reformation, a pilgrimage to the cell of Finchale was con-
sidered as highly profitable to barren wives.

Another stanza in the same collection, from whence the
above is taken, forms so meet a companion that I am induced
to transfer it to these pages : —

I'll be no more a nun, nun, nun,
I'll be no more a nun !

But I'll be a wife.

And lead a merry life,
And brew ale by the tun, tun, tun,
And brew good ale a tun. (ortg.)

The above verses are curious, and show the feelinofs of at
least some of the liberated monastics at the period of the
Reformation. A great many of the emancipated ecclesiastics
married. The Bacons of Durham and Northumberland are
descended from a monk of Weatherall cell, Cumberland.

The martlet and the cine-foil notes.
The Tempest and Umfraville coats.

" This auncient rliime took use in the Ilforth on the cote of
Tempest, of Holmesett." — Dodsworth's Collections, Bod. Lib.
Lady Frances, daughter and sole heiress of Sir Henry Vane

POPULAK EHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 55

Tempest, of Wynjard Hall, near Sedgefield, married the
Marquis of Londonderry, its present possessor.

The family of Umfniville, anciently spelt Umfranville, were
possessors of the manor of Harbottle, in Northumberland, in
the year mlxxvi. Its former owner was Mildred, the son of
Akman, from whom it was wrested by William the Conqueror,
and given to Robert de Umfranville, knt. lord of Tours and
Vian, otherwise called Kobert with the Beard. For many
generations this was one of the most illustrious families in the
North of England.

Like the Mayor of Hart-le-pool, ye cannot do that.

The sense of this saying is, you cannot work impossibilities.
A certain mayor of this (at that time) poor but ancient corpora-
tion, desirous to show his old companions that he was not too
much elated by his high office, told them that, though he was
Mayor of Hart-le-pool, he was still but a man ! there being
many things he could not do ; which I account as much more
commendable than the swagger of the learned (?) mayor of
Banbury, who in solemn conclave undertook to prove that
Henry III. reigned before Henry 11.

The Cauld Lad o' Hylton.

This was the cognomen of a certain ghost or domestic spirit^
of the brownie or Robin Goodfellow genus, which, some two or
three centuries ago, used to haunt the ancient pile of Hylton
castle. The merry pranks of the goblin, which appears at all
times to have been perfectly harmless, however, became weari-
some to the servants, and they determined upon banishing him ;
but the Cauld Lad having caught an inkling of their intentions,
used to amuse himself in the dead of the night with chanting,
in a melancholy strain, the following consolatory lines : —

5G THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Wae's me ! Wae's me !
The acorn is not yet
Grown upon the tree
That's to grow the wood
That's to make the cradle
That's to rock the bairn
That's to grow a man
That's to lay me !

But the Cauld Lad reckoned without his host, for the
domestics provided the usual means of banishment, viz., a green
cloak and a hood, which they laid before the kitchen fire. At
the hour of midnight, the goblin sprite stood before the smoul-
dering embers and surveyed the garments provided for him
very attentively, then tried them on, and appeared delighted
with his appearance, frisking about the room, and cutting
sundry somersets and gambadoes, until at length, on hearing the
first crow of the cock, twitching his green mantle about him, he
disappeared with the appropriate valediction of —

Here's a cloak and here's a hood,

The Cauld Lad o' Hylton will do na' mair good !

And although he has never returned to disarrange the pewter
vessels, or set the house in order, yet his voice was long after
heard, at the dead hour of midnight, singing in melancholy
melody, —

Here's a cloak and here's a hood,

The Cauld Lad o' Hylton will do na' mair good !

There is a room in Hylton Castle, known as the Cauld Lad's
Room, which was never used excepting when the cas'ie was
full of company, and within the last century many persons
worthy of credit had heard at midnight the unearthly wailings
of the Cauld Lad o' Hylton. [For the latest " Legends con-

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 57

iiected with Hylton Castle," see an article by Mr. W. H. D.
LongstafFe in Arch. jEliana, N.s. vii. pp. 153-169.]
Mr. LongstafFe gives a variation : —

I've taken your cloak, I've taken your liood,
The Cowed Lad of Hylton will do no more good.

A Sunderland Fitter.

The playing-card known as the knave of clubs is so called.
[Qy.Why?]

The Apostle of the North.

A honourable appellation worthily bestowed upon one of the
earliest and best divines of the Church of England, and of
which she has just cause to be proud. There was also a saying,
which originated at the period in which this northern worthy
held the rectory of Hough ton-le- Spring, so singularly expressive
of his bountiful and boundless hospitality, that it must not be
omitted in this short illustration, to wit, " If a horse was turned
loose in any part of the country it would immediately make its
way to the rector of Houghton's."

It is almost unnecessary to give the name of Bernard Gilpin.

We'll a' gan' together like the folks o' Shields.

The origin of this saying is now, I fear, quite forgotten ; at
least, I have never been able to meet with it, although I have
made numerous inquiries. Perhaps it may have referred to
the snug parties of neighbours which used to go by boatsfull up
and down the Tyne between Shields and Newcastle, and which
got for these vessels the name of Comfortables.— Robert Ingham,
Esq., of Westoe, formerly M.P. for Shields.

This saying also belongs to Berwickshire. " We'll gang a'
thegither like the folk o' the Shiels " is very common in the

58 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

moutlis of the peasantry when any party of them wish to
accompany another to their homes from kirns, fairs, and other
social meetings. — Henderson's Popular Rhymes, &c., of Ber-
wick, p. 41.

Place-names that terminate in Shiel or Shiels are numerous
in the hill-district of that county ; and there is another
proverb in reference to this, viz., " There's as mony Shiels
in the Lammermoors as there's rigs in the Merse." As
the inhabitants of such farm-places were limited in number,
when they went out to kirk or market they took their departure
in a body ; and, from this circumstance, the proverb has been
considered to have originated.

Here lies John Lively, vicar of Kelloe,
Who had seven daughters and never a fellow.

That is, he had no male child. " John Lively in his will
bequeaths to his daughter Elizabeth a very choice jewel in the
shape of his best gold ring, with a death's head in it, of all
good things, and vii yards of white cloth for curtains of a bed.
His daughter Mary fared more pleasantly, for she got his silver
seal of arms, his gimald ring, and a black gold ring." — Long-
staffe's Hist, of Darlington.

Another version of the saying gives six daughters only.

Frek-born John, or Lilburne, the Trouble World.

Such was the familiar name of John Lilburne, which he
acquired on account of his bold, intrepid, and assiduous labours
during the Commonwealth, in defence of the rights and liberties
of the people. Being both a scholar and soldier, his pen and
sword were both wielded with uncommon perseverance, though
he was frequently tried, imprisoned, and punished for these
offences. As a soldier he distinguished himself in the battles of
Edge-Hill, Brentford, and Marston Moor, in the Parliament
army; and, as a writer, he was admired both in his political

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 50

and puritanical character. He possessed an unconquerable
spirit, and was of so quarrelsome a disposition that it has been
appositely said of him, that if there none living but him, John
would be against Lilburne, and Lilburne against John.* Hume
designates him as "the most turbulent, but the most upright
find courageous of human kind." He was born at Sunderland
in the year 1618. His deatli took place at Eltliam, Aug. 29,
1657, and two days afterwards liis body was brought to London
and interred in the Quakers' graveyard. The following epigram-
matic epitaph appeared shortly after the decease of " Lilburne
the Trouble World":—

Js John departed, and is Lilburne gone ?
Farewell to both, to Lilburne and to John !
Yet being gone, take this advice from me,
Let them not both in one grave buried be.
Here lay ye John, lay Lilburne thereabout,
For if they both should meet they will fall out. '
See Political Ballads, printed for the Percy Society, p. 97, &c.

CnowLEv's Crew.

Any black, dirty-looking person is proverbially described as
one of Crowley's crew.

Ambrose Crowley was a native of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who,
from the humble condition of a common blacksmith, by his
industry, invention, and perseverance in promoting the trade
and manufactures of his country, raised himself to affluence and
nobility. Sir Ambrose Crowley removed his own ironworks,
then in their infancy, from Sunderland to Winlaton, which then
consisted only of " a few deserted cottages," but soon became
densely peopled by the multitude of persons employed in the

* Judge Jenkins said of him, " That if the world was emptied of
all but himself, Lilburne would quarrell with John, and John with
Lilburne." His character is given in Iludibras, part iii. canto ii.

GO THE DENHAM TRACTS.

various branches of the iron trade in this cyclopean colony.
He drew up a code of laws for the regulation of his colony,
which have to a certain extent superseded the general law of
the land, and become locally established, and remain in force
to the present time. [In Hornby's MSS. ii. p. 45, is the fol-
lowing entry : " The town hutch (of Newcastle) rob'd by a
mob of keelmen and Crowley's crew, the 26th June, 1740." —
[The town hutch was a strong chest secured by nine locks, in
which the money received by the town of Newcastle was de-
posited. — J. H.] A tax is levied among the workmen to support
the aged or disabled who ere known as '' Crowley's poor.'''

The Biddickers,

The village of South Biddick is in a sequestered situation,
and was formerly inhabited by banditti, who set all authority
at defiance. The press-gang were once beaten out of the place
with the loss of two men, and never more known to enter, for
if they were known to be in the neighbourhood the Biddickers
used to sound a horn, the signal for them to fly to arms ; fires
were lighted in various places, and the keels in the river were
seized, with which they formed a bridge of communication with
Fatfield (another place equally as lawless as their own), and
kept watch and ward till the danger was past. In consequence
of this it became a receptacle for such as had violated the laws
of their country. It was here the unfortunate James Drum-
mond, Duke of Perth, took sanctuary after the rebellion of
1745-6, under the protection of Nicholas Lambton, Esq., who
had his residence hero, where he lived in obscurity and conceal-
ment till 1782, when he died, and was buried at Painshaw.
— {See page 46.)

By 'grees and 'grees, as the West Aucklakd Lasses get their

Fortune^.

The meaning of this proverb is obvious, but as regards the
origin thereof I am totally ignorant.

POPULAR EHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 61

'' 0, MON, GAN Ka' further ; LET ME DIGEST THE KNOWLEDGE I
ha' gained, for, by my soul, I DID NA' KEN AdAm's NAME WAS
LUMLEY."

From Mr. Pennant we glean the following story : — " When
King James the First, in one of his Progresses, was entertained
in Lumley Castle, William James, bishop of Durham, a relation
of the house, in order to give his majesty an idea of the
importance of the family, wearied him with a long detail of their
ancestors, to a period even past belief. ' 0, mon,' says the king,
* gan na' further : let me digest the knowledge I ha' gained,
for, by my soul, I did na' ken Adam's name was Lumley.' "

The Lumleys are, however, all foolish boasting apart, a
family of extremely high antiquity,

"Sir Harry, Oh I Sir Harry Vane! The Lord deliver me from
Sir Harry Vane ! "

The above expression was given utterance to by Oliver
Cromwell when in the act of dissolving the Long Parliament,
in consequence of Sir Harry's opposition thereto.' Sir H. Vane
was a staunch republican, and resisted Oliver Cromwell to such
a decree that the usurper sent him to Carisbrook Castle. On
the Restoration he was arrested and committed to the Tower ;
and although accused only of acts that occurred after the king's
death, he was found guilty and beheaded on Tower Hill in the
year mdclxii.

Harry Vane, who never said a false thing or did a bad one.

Harry Vane, iii. d. Lord Barnard, was the great-grandson of
the immortal Sir Harry, from whom the still more celebrated
Oliver Cromwell so jeerlngly intreated the Lord to deliver him.
Lord Barnard was Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant
and Vice- Admiral of the county of Durham, &c., &c. Li 1754,
during the ministry of the Duke of Newcastle, he was created

()2 THE DEXHAM TRACTS.

Viscount Barnard and Earl of Darlington. His character is
variously given by the hot politicians of the day. Horace
Walpole lashes him in the most bitter style; but by the premier
duke, who knew him better, he is eulogised as one of the best
and most trustworthy of men.

Here lies Eobert Trollop,
Who made yon stones roll up ;
And when God took his soul up,
His body fill'd this hole up.

In Gateshead churchyard was a singular monument, said to
have been erected by Robert Trollop, the architect of tlie
Exchange at Newcastle, to cover his own intended place of
interment. It was a square heavy building, and the upper
part contained several scriptural texts in gold letters on a black
ground. It is said that there was originally a statue on the
north side of this monument pointing towards the Exchange,
which is nearly opposite, and having the above lines below the
feet.

Variation, extracted from Anthologiaj by W. T., Inner
Temple, Lond. 1807, p. 49.

I, Sir John Trollop,
Made these stones roll up ;
When God shall take my soul up,
My body shall fill that hole up.

See Hutcliinson's Hist, of Northumberland,

Vol. ii. pp. 401-2.

[I find the following in Hornhy^s MSS. ii. p. 33. There is
a tradition that Daniel Defoe, who was concealing himself in
these parts on account of some prosecution against him for his
writings, standing in Gateshead churchyard made the follow-
ing extempore epitaph:

POPULAE RHYMES, ETC , RELATING TO DURHAM. 63

Here lies Robert Trollop,
Who made yon stones role-up ;
When Heaven took his soul up,
His body fill'd this hole up.

It is also added there, "There is no epitaph, and no statue of
Trollop pointing to Newcastle Exchange as stated by Pen-
nant."— J. H.]

Note. — Although the monument of Trollop no longer exists
in the cemeterj-garth of Gateshead church, the curious will
be gratified so far in that the old ruinated tomb has of late been
restored, in accordance with the original design, by the opulent
family of Greene, memorials of whom it bears. A third variorum
reading of the Trollop rhymes gives Death in the place of God
in line 3. Not a very sensible variation, yet il is one I have
both seen and heard.

"They would be Angels, not Angles, if they were but
Christians."

The intention of converting the Anglo-Saxons to the Chris-
tian faith originated with Gregory, surnamed the Great, after-
wards bishop of Rome. It happened that this prelate, when
archdeacon of Rome, had observed in the forum or market-
place of Rome some flaxen-haired Anglo-Saxon youths exposed
for sale, whom their mercenary parents had sold to the Roman
merchants. Struck with their fair complexions and beautiful
countenances, he demanded out of what country they were?
And understanding they were heathen Angles, he lamented the
case of a land, the inhabitants being so beautiful, to be subject
to the prince of darkness, and said they ought more properly to
be denominated Non Angli, sed Angeli forent si essent Chris-
tiani. And asking out of what province they were, was
answered, "Out of Deira, the southern province of the king-
dom of Northumbria." "Deira," he replied, "that is good;

64 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

they must be called to the mercy of God from his anger, De
ira Deiy "But what is the name of the king of that pro-
vince?" " Aella," was the reply. " AUelulia," cried he, "we
must endeavour that the praise of God be sung in that country."
Gregory was strongly pressed in the spirit to go into Britain
to endeavour the conversion of those heathens, but Pelagius 11. ,
the then bishop of Rome, and the whole of the people of that
city, rose in an uproar and prevented his departure. On his
elevation to the apostolic see ho despatched Augustine, with
other preachers of the Benedictine order, to the number of
eleven, to undertake the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons.

Beef to the heels, like a Durham Heifer.

The banks of the Tees are celebrated for their breed of
short-horned cattle ; when four years old they generally weigh
from eighty to ninety stones. In 1779 a fat ox, bred by Mr.
Thomas Hill, of Blackwell, was sold to a butcher in Dar-
lington for lOy^. lis. ; it weighed 160 stones 10 lbs., at 141b*.
the stone. The Durham White Ox, which weighed 223 stones
(of 14 lbs.), measured, from tail to poll, eight feet eight inches,
at the age of seven years. It was bred and fed by J. D.
Newsham, Esq., late of Houghton. Sheep also, bred and fed
in this county, have attained the enormous weight of fiftj-four
pounds per quarter.

The proverb is, I am told, generally applied to ladies with
not very small ankles.

Can soss (J,.e. lap) as much milk as the Lambton Worm.

Spoken of the ploughman, who after having drank his two
or three pints of milk, and ate a proportionate quantity of
household bread, assists himself to anotlier I

It is traditionally said that the Lambton Worm could drink

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 65

the milk of nine kine, as the following stanzas, extracted from
the ballad, will testify : —

To the milky fold it would crawl at eve,

And at the morning's break ;
And feed on the milk that nine kine gave,

In mien both soft and sleek.

But should that boon e'er be denied,

Both men and beast must fly,
Its hideous form would swell with pride,

And ire flash from its eye.

Note. — I never but once heard the above saying repeated.

Never trust a Little.

Although this saying is nearly universally used under
another name in the bishoprick, and elsewhere in the North of
England, I have reason to believe that the above is the correct
form, and the other a mere adaptation. A family of this name
(Little) were celebrated rievers, or, in other and more modern
language, thieves, dwelling on the border.

On Tunstall grows the bonny rose,

At Hetton the lily pale ;
But the bonny rose won't kythe with Bowes,

Sweet hly of the vale.

Kythe, kin, to be akin to. A branch of the Shadforth
family of Eppleton was seated at Tunstall. Anthony Shad-
forth, of Tunstall, who died in mdcl, had several daughters,
who all married well. The allusion may probably apply to
Mary (the flower of the family), who might refuse to kythe
with Bowes at the time the stanza was written, and yet after-
wards alter her mind. — Sir Cuthbert Sharp's Bishoprick Gar-
land.

V

66 THE DENHAM TEACTS.

He (She, or It) is a Tofthill-er.

Any person, or thing, extremely rough and uncouth in
manners or appearance, is so characterised. The village of
Tofthill is situated between Evenwood and Wolsingham.

Who knows but Mister Bowes

In his old days will mend his ways !

Tradition tells that early one morning, about the year 1740,
as " Sir" Will. Brown, and a chosen few of his merrie men,
were returning from the scene of some midnight robbery upon
the king's highway, in the far west, and travelling along the
road in the direction of Darlington, his horse, which was dread-
fully tired, sank almost up to his knees in mud and mire at every
step he took; at the last he fell from sheer exhaustion, and,
sans ceremonie, flung his rider to flounder in the mud, and
extricate himself as best he might. The ryghte honest knyghte,
who was speedily soused from head to foot in the filthy fluid, on
recovering firm footing and opening his eyes, beheld Squire
Bowes, the owner of Thornton Hall and the estate through
which passed this execrable road, just outside his own mansion
house immediately opposite, to whom, calling aloud, he
addressed the above rhymes. These wonderfully harmonical
succession of sounds, it will be observed, bear a twofold appli-
cation, and were, no doubt, considered sufficiently witty and
satirical at the period at which they were spoken impromptu
by that good honest man and true, " Sir " William Brown,
Knight of the Order of St. Nicholas.

We are not informed whether Mister Bowes took the hint
and mended his ways in accordance with the advice so gratui-
tuously given by the witty highwayman, or not, but let us hope
that, for his soul's health, and the comfort of all travellers,
whether on horseback or on foot, he speedily set about mend-
ing not only his public but his private ways also !

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 67

The Mayor of Stockton town,
And the Mayor of Hart-le-pule ;
The first's a silly young fellowe,
The second's an awde fule.

To what particular period in the history of these two neigh-
bouring corporations, and rival ports, to assign the above
homely verses, I most freely confess 1 am quite ignorant.

Chester-le-Street; where the Folks play at Putt for Bairns.

In October, 1735, a child of James ana Elizabeth Leesh, of
the above place, was played for at cards, at the sign of the
" Salmon," (»ne game, four shillings against the child, by
Henry and John Trotter, Kobert Thompson, and Thomas Elli-
son ; it was won by the latter, and delivered to them accord-
ingly. — Local Records, 1st ed. p. 79.

Sunderland Sowies.

This rather coarse and unenviable epithet is, even down to
the present day, applied to the fair sex of Sunderland. The
meaning of the word sowies, although now nearly forgotten, is
evidently the diminutive of sow.

Has a Chip of Bede's Chair in her Pouch.

It has been a custom from time immemorial for the ladies,
immediately after the conclusion of the marriage ceremony
(before Hymen's altar in Jarrow church), to proceed to the
vestry and cut a chip off Bede's chair, to ensure their fruitful-
ness. The saying is generally applied to those females who
show signs of fecundity rather early after entering into the
happy state of matrimony.

Many a fair pilgrim has borne away chips oflF this wonder-
working chair, to place under her pillow, in full confidence
that the man she dreams of will be her future husband.

f2

68 . THE DENHAM TRACTS.

WiNLATON Shags.
The good folks of Winlaton are so called, but why I know
not (see p. 72).

" Better Luck Still, quoth Eowley Burdon."

All extremely popular toast and saying through nearly the
whole of the North of England.

Lord Strathmore's Bumblers.

When the late Earl of Strathmore raised the Derwent Legion,
in 1803, from no doubt a principle of economy he clothed the
infantry in scarlet jackets and black breeches and accoutrements.
From this singular dress the corps obtained the contemptuous
designation of the Bumblers.* — [From Brochett.~\

Byerley's Bull-Dogs.

A name for Colonel Byerley's troopers, still remembered in
popular tradition.

Tanfield fools, and x^nfield lubberts,
Hungry Iceton with its empty cupboards.

Tanfield, Anfield, and Iceton (properly Iveston), are villages
and hamlets near the source of the river Derwent.

This rhyming couplet is still aj)plied as a reproach on the
ignorance, idleness, and poverty of the inhabitants of these por-
tions of the Bishoprick ; but it is scarcely applicable to the
natives of the present day and generation, although often used.

* Before the present rage for volunteering, the old country yeo-
manry trained at Newcastle were called Noodles, and the children
were accustomed to shout after them as " Bumblers " and " Pheside
Fumblers," who " daurena gang to war."

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 69

The strength of Hugh
A lion slew.

This verse in its Latin form of —

Viribus Hugonis, vires periere leonis —

was written in commemoration of one of the family of Neville,
who attended King Eichard I. in the Holy Land wars, and
was an especial favourite with his royal master. This Hugh
Neville slew a lion in the Holy Land, first driving an arrow
into his breast and then running him through the body with his
sword. He was buried about the year mccxx. under a marble
monument in the church of Waltham Abbey in Essex.

There seems no known similarity of descent between the
family of Hugh de Neville and the Nevilles whose heiress
became by marriage the lady of Raby. Hugh's seal is figured
by Thompson in his History of Boston. It represents his leonine
contest, the lion's address forming the legend : " Or, a gardez.
Bel ami Trop. Fort. Baaile. i.A.ci." Hugh's father, Ealph,
founded Hoton Nunnery, in Yorkshire, and the name of Neville
is my only inducement for alluding to his son in this series.

To Kill all, like Andrew Mills.

Spoken of certain bishoprick sportsmen who indiscriminately
kill all that comes within range of their guns.

There Never was an Allan a Parson.

Spoken of the family of Allan of Blackwell, in com.Dunelm.,
and Barton, in com. Ebor. ; and the pedigree of the family fully
bears out the saying.

Like Shankey Hall, he takes ne Hints.

A highly popular bishoprick proverb. There was a Shankey
Hall belonging to the city of Durham who died a few years ago,

70 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

a very little man, who is well remembered. He was bellman of
Durham, a rather singular character, and used to wear a three-
cocked hat of the old school. His son, a tailor, still lives in
Durham ; he also goes by the name of " Shankey Hall." —
[W. D.]

Whorlton Snobs
Are all called Bobs.

Whether to translate the word Snobs by shoemakers, or
vulgar, rude, and illiterate persons, I cannot determine ; but be
that as it may, it appears that the name of Robert did at one
time prevail to a great extent in the village of Whorlton, in the
parish of Gainford.

Johannes Lumleius
Annos mille vives.

'' The transpose of the letters in the name of Lord Lumley
doth seeme prophetically to promise many years unto that
worthy and good old man." — Camden's Remaines.

In the year mdxciv. Bishop Matthew granted a licence to the
above nobleman to translate to Chester-le- Street the remains
and monuments of his ancestors, particularly of John Lumley
and Ralph Lumley, from the yard of the cathedral church of
Durham, where they were placed near the north door. He
also caused monuments to be erected in the same place to many
of his ancestors, from Liulph down to his own time. This
solemn arrangement of effigies cannot be visited without deep
emotion by those who know the family, descended of an illus-
trious race of ancestry, or have traced their history and posses-
sions.

Shields Geordies.

The by-name given by the sailors of other English ports to
those belonging to the port of Shields.

POPULAR KHYMES, ETC., EELATING TO DURHAM. 71

Bad-weather Geordie is the name given, on the coasts of
Durham and Northumberland, to the evil submarine spirit who,
as occasion serves him, raises dreadful storms at sea, and, as a
consequence, causes the tears of the widow and orphan often-
times to flow. The northern sailor, when he hears the cry of
" Cockles alive '' on a dark wintry night, concludes that a
storm is at hand, and he secretly ''breathes a prayer backwai'd
for the soul of ' Bad-weather Geordie.' ""^

The by-name of Geordie is, I am told, also given to the
sailors of the port of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Sunderland Jammies.
A by-name given to the Sunderland sailors.

Drive Hawky, car' Hawky,

Drive Hawky thro' the watter ;

Our Hawky's but a little cow,

She's sometimes flaid to wade the watter :

Tak' her up, and set her through,

Car Hawky thro' the watter.

A pitman on the banks of the Wear, opposite to Hylton
Castle, had a very handsome wife, and, when the river was
swollen with rain, her husband — good soul ! — used to carry her
through the water on his back to a summer-house near to
Hylton Castle. A song was made on the occasion, a fragment
of which is preserved in the text ; and Mr. Hylton (the good
and last Baron), hearing -his fool sing this song, asked who
taught him it ? "What wad ye?" was the fool's answer; and
neither entreaties, threats, nor beatings could gain any further
answer.

Notwithstanding the above is wrapped in mystery, I fancy

* This sentence is from Chatto's Rambles in Northumberland, p. 207.
" Bad- weather Geordie " is merely the vendor of cockles. — J. H.

72 THE dp:nham tracts.

that I can see something in the shape of an amour betwixt the
last of the Hyltons of Hylton Castle and the pitman's wee
wifie. Mr. Longstaffe {Arch. yEliana) says, " The rhyme is
an alteration of a well-known Scotch song about a cow whose
pet name — a common one for her species — was Hawkey."

He's a Winlater.
This saying may be illustrated by using the parallel saying
of Cumberland, '' He's a Bewcastler " — i.e. a bad one.

Cicely of Raby,
Never so good a lady.

She was the youngest child of Ralph Neville, Earl of West-
moreland, who had twenty other children. She married
Richard Duke of York, and was mother to two of the three
kings of England belonging to the House of York, and grand-
mother to the other. Elizabeth, her grandchild, married
Henry VII. She lived thirty years a widow, and died in the
tenth year of King Henry VII. a.d. mccccxcy. — See Fuller's
Worthies.

While we were sleeping, we three babes were slain ;
And here we sleep, till we must rise again.

Under a slightly varied form these verses are given on the
tomb of John, Jane, and Elizabeth Brass, who were murdered
by their father's servant, Andrew Mills. To commemorate this
torrid tragedy an altar-tomb was erected in j\Ierrington church-
yard. This monument, having fallen somewhat into decay, was
restored by subscription in 1789. The whole inscription ran
thus : —

Here lies the bodies of John, Jane, and Elizabeth Brass,
children of John and Margaret Brass, who were murthered by
their father's servant, January xxv. 168|.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 73

Reader, remember, sleeping we were slain,
And here we sleep till we must rise again.

Whoso sheddetli man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.
Thou shalt do no murder.

Mills was executed on the 15th day of August, mdclxxxiii,
on what was then a common, by the roadside, about half- a- mile
to the north of Ferry Hill, in full view of the scene of murder.
He was afterwards hung in chains (?)

Why they, the children of Brass, should (in the text) be
called babes I cannot see, their ages being Jane 20, John 18,
and Elizabeth 11 years ; but probably it was from their living
under their father's roof at the period of their awful death.

The dwelling-house of Brass stands a few fields to the north
of the lane leading from Merrington to Ferry Hill, on the
northern brow of the hill. The house, a substantial farmhold,
may seem to be exactly in the same state as in mdclxxxiii.
A portion of the gibbet, or, as it was locally called, " Andrew
Mills' Stob," existed within living memory, until it fell before
the plough ; which, however, only anticipated its destruction
a few years, as it was in a fair way of being cut down piece-
meal, under the effects of a superstitiously ignorant belief in
its efficacy as a charm against ague and toothache.

BoxNY Bobby Shaftoe.

Tradition states that this bishoprick characteristic, and the
following still more popular song, had their origin on occasion
of the excessive love of Miss Bellasyse, the heiress of Brance-
peth, for Robert Shaftoe, Esq., of Whitworth, for whom we
are also told on the same authority, she died for love. A por-
traiture of this favoured lover is preserved in the mansion at
Whitv/orth Park, in which he is represented not only as very

74 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

young and handsome, but also with yellow hair. Here follows
the sono;: —

Bobby Shaftoe's bright and fair,
Combing down his yellow hair ;
He's my ain for iwermair,
Hey for Bobby Shaftoe.

Bobby Shaftoe's gone to sea,
Wi' silver buckles at his knee ;
When he comes back he'll marry me,
Bonny Bobby Bhaftoe.

At election periods, whenever one of this family is a can-
didate, the following addition is given, with the occasional still
further addition of a still more spurious verse : —

Bobby Shaftoe's looking out,
All his ribbons flew about,
All the lasses gave a shout —
" Hey " for Bobby Shaftoe !

Hee-landers.

That is, highlanders. The whole of the population on the
banks of the Tees, above Barnard Castle, are so designated by
the lower orders of the masculine gender in the above-named
town, between whom and their more civilised neighbours a
deadly, or at least an extremely pugnacious and bloody, feud
has existed far beyond the period of living memory. The
writer recollects, once upon a time, being eye-witness to one
of these periodical uproars, which generally occurred at every
fair and hiring holden at Barnard Castle ; and being at that
period only a young youth, he was, he full well remembers,
most dreadfully alarmed. The Barnard Castle tammy-weavers
were, however, no match for the stout, healthy, brawny lads of
Mickleton Forest and Frith, it being a well-known fact that it

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 7o

was no uncommon occurrence to see from at least three to. as
manj as six tammy-weavers all set, like as many butchers'
dogs, upon one Heelander, who, notwithstanding the serious
odds against him, often proved the conqueror ! Occasionally,
when the Barney-Cassellers could muster sufficiently powerful,
they used to visit Middleton on a fair-day, where their temerity
generally met its due reward; for they invariably returned
home not only worsted, but covered with blood and bruises,
and occasionally, also, with broken bones.

Although an occasional outbreak may now take place once
in the course of two or three years, I am happy to say that (in
the middle of the nineteenth century) a more quiescent spirit
is possessing itself of the Barney- Cassell and Teesdale bodies,
and these semi-feudal outbreaks are fast wearing away.

Lune and Penn,
Fortune and Benn ;
Erastus and Johne,
And Bett alone.

A jingling rhyme on the Christian names of the family of
Ambrose Johnson, of Whorlton, near Barnard Castle. He had
three sons — Benn, Erastus, and John ; and four daughters—
Pennington, Elizabeth, Eunice, and Fortune. " Pennington
Johnson, baptized 1681." Mr. Francis Wycliffe married
Fortune Johnson, and having an estate unexpectedly left him
by his wife's brother (who favoured '' Fortune " above the rest
of his sisters and brethren) at the time his wife gave birth to
twins, in 1710, he very considerately caused them to be bap-
tized by the names of Favour and Fortune. A brother of these
twins came to extreme poverty, and died at the residence of his
brother in-law, the Rev. Peter Fisher, vicar of Staindrop — so
little was the benefit which accrued from the favour shown in
giving fortune.

76 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Matthew Lambert's Mustardmek.

This is the Brafferton name for the Heron. A worthy
agricultural labourer, who lived at the above-named place, had
a small plot of mustard growing in one corner of his little
holding, and on a certain day he expected a seedsman from
Darlington to view and purchase the produce. On that day
Matthew, with the assistance of a mate, was mending his fences,
having left his spouse, Peggy, with instructions to call to him
when the man of seeds came. No summons, however, came for
a long time ; at last a heron flew, unseen, over his head, on its
passage from Sandholm, near Ketton, to Morden-Carrs, crying
"Crake, crake, crake!"" "Let me away," quoth he, "no
doubt the mustardman's come ; for I hear my wife Peggy's
voice at the last."

Lost in a Wood, like Geordy Potter o' Sadberge.

Of the private and public history of the hero of this well-
known bishoprick saw, little or nothing has descended . to
posterity, further than that he was a pedlar, and had his
domicile at the place mentioned in the text, and that on one
occasion he was (for some of his misdeeds, no doubt) most
unmercifully whipped, and afterwards placed in the stocks, in
some town in Yorkshire — mayhap that it was either Hull or
Halifax — but this I cannot speak to. However, while suffering
under his lack of liberty, he, poor fellow ! contrived means to
pen a loving letter to his still more loving wife, wherein he
described himself as having got into a wood, and notwithstand-
ing he could see over it, and also through it, and under it, yet,
in spite of his teeth, he could not get out of it !

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 77

Rare and Popular Rhymes, Proverbs,

Sayings, Characteristics, &c.,

&c., relating to certain

Towns and Villages

in the County of

Durham.

Chester-le- Street has a bonny bonny church,

With a broach upon the steeple,
But Chester-le-Street is a dirty, dirty town,

And mair shame for the people.

The word broach is nearly peculiar to the north of England
The ancient celebrity of this quondam city, recorded in the
latter clause of the stanza, is equally applicable at the present
day as it was three or four hundred years ago.

Out o' Bisho' Brigg into Yorkshire.

That is, " out of the frying-pan into the fire," or " out of
God's blessing into the warm sun." — Incidit in Scyllam cupiens
vitare Charyhdim,

Cox-Green's a bonny place.

Where water washes clean.
And Painshaw's on a hill.

Where we have merry been.

The above verse forms the second stanza of the concludino;
song as sung by the captain of the honourable band of Gentle-
men Sword-dancers resident in the vicinities of Sunderland
and the City of Durham. Cox Green, a hamlet on the Wear,
five miles west of Sunderland. Painshaw, a township about
three miles north-east of Houghton-Ie-Spring. The high
grounds command extensive prospects, in which the city of
Durham and Chester-le-Street are conspicuous objects.

< THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Daklington.
1. To take Darnton Trod. Or, May take Darnton Trod.

Spoken of one who, having been guilty of some dishonest or
disreputable act, will be constrained to leave his accustomed,
haunts ; and yet I never either heard or read that this ancient
town enjoyed the privilege of sanctuary. It is more than pro-
bable that this saying originated in the pristine celebrity of
Darlington, and some of its neighbouring villages, as the
rendezvous of a few of the most celebrated of the Knights
of the Blade, or St. Nicholas ; in modern language, yclept
robbers and highwaymen. Tradition still points out the ancient
wayside inn at Baydale Beck as being a sort of Palliard for
a celebrated clatch of thieves known by the name of Cotton's
Gang. This inn, too, was frequented by a notorious villain
called Sir (notice his knighthood) William Brown and his
retainers. This fellow, in desert of his villainies, was hung at
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the 8th August, 1743. See Loc. Hist.
Tab. Book, vol. i. p. 409; vol. ii. p. 199. {See also a curious
anecdote of Sir William, chronicled on page ^'6). These Darnton
worthies and their avocation have been submerged in the
black-troop of modern days, and these, in their turn, were in
a great measure dispersed on the appointment of a regular
police force. A few fast fading spirits still linger round their
quondam haunts.

" He was in danger of being robbed about Darnton and
Neesum by thieves and highwaymen." — 'Letter of Bishop Cosin.

2. Wya ! and what of all that? Aw saw three stirks sell'd i'
Darnton market for five punds a piece, as big as churches !

A gentle retort, made use of in the western parts of the county
of Durham, to one who is relating the wonderful and cheap
purchases made by himself, or others, at a far distant fair.

POrULAR EHYMES, ETC , RELATING TC DURHAM. 79

It is also used as a gibe on the dialect spoken in Darlington-
shire ; the chief peculiarity of which rests in the pronunciation
of the letter R, which it appears that we possess as well as our
more northern countrymen, though not in the same burring or
wharling tone. To the word all we likewise give a very hard
pronmiciation. The saying is also much used in Westmore-
land and the north-west corner of the county of York ; but, like
every other saying of a reproachful character, rarely in that of
the place or district to which it applies.

3. Deep as the Hell-kettles.

The above is the name of three deep pits at Oxen-le-Hall, in
the parish of Darlington. Many fabulous traditionary stories
are told of them. It is said that they are bottomless ; that the
water is hot in consequence of reverberation ; that geese and
ducks thrown therein have dived through subterranean passages
to the River Tees, &c., &c., &c. Harrison (1577) calls them
" three little poles, which the people call the Kettles of Hell, or
ye Devil's Kettles, as if he should see the souls of sinfull men
and women in them ; they adde also that ye spirits oft beene
harde to cry and yell about them."

4. Barnaby yea ! Barnaby nay !

A cart-load of hay, whether God will or nay;

Many centuries ago the owner, or occupier, of the field where
the Hell Kettles are situate was going to lead his hay on the
feast-day of St. Bai'nabas (11th June) ; and, on being remon-
strated with on the impiety of the act by some more pious
neighbour, he used the above rhymes, when instantly he, his
carts and horses, were all swallowed up in the pools; where
they may still be seen, on a fine day and clear water, many
fathoms deep !

80 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

5. Darnton, where the wind once blew a dog's tongue out.

This truth has passed into a saying, and is explained by the
fact that some twenty years ago that portion of the gilt talbot
(a sign by the way which projected some distance over-head
into the street) having become corroded through the effects of
old age and the weather, was blown off one tremendously
windy market-day. — See Mr. Longstaffe's elaborate History of
Darlington.

6. Dirty Darnton, var. Darnton-in-the-dirt.

" Darlington, a post town, is remarkable for nothing but its
dirt and a high stone bridge over little or no water." — Daniel
de Foe's Tour.

In the year mdclxxix James Duke of York (afterwards
James II.) on his visiting Scotland, rested one night in Dar-
lington, and put up at an old "mud house" in Tubwell Row;
this house was pulled down only a few years ago ; a panel
therein commemorated the royal visit. Tradition says that the
duke looked out of the window and asked what place it was ; a
bystander quickly answered that it was " Darnton." "Humph,"
quoth he, " I think its Darnton i' th' Dirt !"

Gateshead.
1. All the world and part of Gatesides.
This saying is applied to any unusually large concourse of
people.

2. Gateshead; a dirty lane leading to Newcastle.

This descriptive epithet, though modern, is, however, as old
as the days of Charles James Fox. The town of Gateshead
beinor named in the House of Commons, a proud southern
remarked, " Gateshead ! Gateshead ! where is Gateshead ? "

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 8 1

He never, it would appear, having heard that such a place
existed tiU that moment of time ; to which query, Mr. Fox,
who had travelled further north, or, at all events, knew more
of the geography of the bishoprick than his haughty compeer,
replied, " Oh ! it's a long dirty lane leading into Newcastle."—
I. F. [The late Mr. John Fen wick, Newcastle.]

3, A Shirrey Moor.

A tumultuous assemblage of people [such as we may suppose
when all the world and part of Gateside meet] usual on Gates-
head Fell when the Judges were met by the sheriff on what is
still called Sheriff Hill. — Brockett's Glossary of North Country
Words.

Till I met with the above interpretation of the saying I had
always supposed that it had its origin in the battle of Sheriff-
Muir, where all was blood, uproar, and confusion ; and where,
according to the traditional relation of another of these dark
sayings of antiquitie, " the Scotchman lost his father and
mother and his gude buff belt worth them both." [Note that
the belt of the Highlandman was thoroughly lined with good
pieces of gold — i.e., guineas.]

Barnard Castle.
1. Carries his coals round by Eichmond to sell at Barnard Castle,

This saying is peculiar to the central and mid-southern
portions of the county of Durham. It is spoken of a person
who is guilty of a circumlocutory act.

2. Lartington for frogs,

And Barney Castle for butchers' dogs,

Varia :

Lartington frogs,
And Barney Castle butcher- dogs.
G

82 THE DENHAM TEACTS.

The latter couplet assumes the quality of an undignified
characteristic applied to the people of those places. The former
bespeaks the places themselves as being at one period, and
perhaps justly, celebrated for the breed and number of those
quadrupeds.

" That other nature alauntz of bochery is suche as ze may
always se in good townes that beth called grete bocher dogges."
— MSS. of Edmond de Langley, son of Edward III.

The bull-dogs kept by the butchers of Southampton in the
reign of Henry VII., for the purpose of baiting bulls, seem to
have been a terror to the town from being allowed to run about
unmuzzled.

3. Barnard Castle Bridge Wedding Ehyme.

My blessing on your pates,

Your groat's in my purse ;
You are never the better,

And I am never the worse.

Alexander Hylton, curate of Denton, of the ancient family of
Hylton of Pyons or Dyance, near Piercebridge, in this county,
left a son Cuthbert, of great notoriety, who having taken orders
in no Church, but having been trained up as Bible-clerk under
his father, considered himself as fully competent to perform
marriages upon the bridge of Barnard Castle which connects
the counties of York and Durham. The above is said to be the
rhyme which, after having first made the parties leap over a
broomstick, he made use of on these occasions. But in fact it
is evidently nothing more than a parody on an ancient rhyme
which was used as a charm by reputed witches in the cure of
certain diseases, viz.: —

Your loaf is in my lap,

And your penny is in my purse ;

You are never the better,
And I am never the worse.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 83

4. Bonny Barney.

Barnard Castle is popularly so-called, but the alliterative pro-
priety would not only be greater, but also truer, if it were
termed Black or Blackguard Barney.

5. Come ! come ! that's Barney Castle !

An expression often uttered when a person is heard making a
had excuse in a still icorse cause.

G. Barnard Castle ; the last place that God made.

This derisive saying is not strictly in accordance with the idea
which it is intended to convey. The fact is, that Barnard
Castle is surrounded on all sides with extensive pasture, meadow,
and tillage lands ; whereas the proverb conveys to the stranger
the idea that it is situated, as it were, in the midst of a vast
howling wilderness. — [See notes to the poem of Roheby^ cant. ii.
No. 1.]

I have heard the saying applied to two other not far distant
vills, viz., Cockfield and Toft Hill ; and in both of the latter
cases there is a nearer approach to the figure of speech, as they
are both mai'gined, on one side at least, by extensive ranges of
moorland.

The probability is great that the same saying is used, varying
only as regards the name of the place, in almost every county
in Great Britain. In fact it is one of a very common-place
character, and scarcely deserving of notice in any collection of
popular archaeology.

Barnard Castle for a long series of years has been celebrated
for the manufacture of ginger-bread. The family of Monk-
house followed the trade of ginger-bread bakers for several
generations, bringing up large families in an extremely credit-
able and respectable manner.

g2

84 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Bj ])arodying the quaint old rhyme anent Castor and Nor-
wich, it is equally true and applicable of Barnard Castle and
Marwood. The town of Marwood stood close to the present
town of Barnard Castle ; the only remains of it is a religious
building, now converted into a dwelling-house.

Marwood was a town when Barney Castle was nane,
And Barney Castle was built wi' Marwood stane.

!]^VENW00D.

1. Evenwood,

Where never straight tree stood.

The prevailing south-west gales have full sweep over the
manor of Evenwood, and the few trees that appear there are
generally stunted and misshapen.

The village of Evenwood is situated on the south side of the
Gaunless river, about five miles west-south-west of Bishop
Auckland.

2. You've been at Evenwood, where never
A straight tree grew.

Or, occasionally in a rhyming form, thus : —

3. You've been to Evenwood,

Where straight tree never stood.

Said of a person with an extremely crooked staff.

Sockburn, where Conyers so trusty

A huge serpent did dish-up,

That had else eat the bish-up :
But now his old falchion's grown rusty,
Grown rusty.

The antiquity of this rhyme is very much questioned by
northern antiquaries, who tell us that the late Robert Surtees,
Esq., of Mainsforth, was the father of more than one rhyme of

POPULAR EHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 85

similar cliaraeler. Well ! and what if he truly were so !
Ehymes and Proverbs do not, like mushrooms, spring out of
the earth ; some one or other has either spoken or written them
all ; and I can see no sufficient reason to object against Mr.
Surtees, or any other modern, writing a local rhyme, as
well as the " oulde aunciente faders of Antiquitie," as Master
"Wynkyn de "Worde would call them.

In connection with the above verses, there is a very singular
legend and custom, both of which are to be met with in any of
the County Histories or Gazetteers. [The " Sockburn Sword"
under the name of the " Conjers Falchion,^' is figured in Arch.
ySliana, N.s. vol. xv. plates xx. xxi. xxii. (pp. 214-7) 1891.

Kain in April, rain in May,

Or Mainsforth farewell [to] corn and hay.

Mainsforth stands on a dry gravelly soil, and requires fre-
quent moisture. Its situation is extremely open and airy. It
is three miles north-west of Sedgefield.

Sedgepield.

1. I've been as far travelled as Sedgefield,
Where the folks call strea — Straw !

Sedgefield, a small market-town, is situated about eleven
miles south-south-east of Durham. It is considered a remark-
ably healthy parish. Dr. Askew called it the

2. Montpellier of the North.

To meet with persons here of 80, 90, or even 100 years of
age, is no uncommon circumstance.

3. To go at a thing, like a Sedgefield Hunt.
Kot knowing the peculiarities of the sportsmen of Sedge-
field, I am sorry that I am unable to illustrate this bishoprick
saying.

8b* THE DENHAM TRACTS.

4. A Sedgefield Chap.
The Knave of Clubs. I am ignorant that Sedgefield is any
more proverbial for the vulgarity of the lower orders of its
inhabitants than any other town of similar size.

Varied, to

Go to Shields
And fish for eels.

And shave Ducks.

Another equally inelegant bishoprick malediction. {See
page 46.)

In the localities surrounding the palace of Falkland, N.B.,
are traditionally preserved many old sayings, which the guid
folks of the present generation attribute to the ancient denizens
of the royal domain. " Fruchie, a little village about a mile
from the palace, was assigned as a place of temporary banish-
ment and penance for courtiers who had incurred the royal
displeasure ; and hence, it is said, the common ejaculation,
when any one wishes to get rid of an obnoxious person, ' Gro to
Fruchie,' which is certainly a much more civil mandate than
many maledictions enunciated in modern days." — Castles and
Prisons of Mary of Scotland.

Ovington Edge and Cockfield Fell

Are the coldest spots 'twixt Heaven and Hell.

Ovington is a village near Greta Bridge, in Yorkshire.
Cockfield is near Staindrop, in the bishoprick of Durham.
They are both lofty and extremely exposed places.

Like Dalton bell-rope.

That is, a deed half-done. A story is told how, after many
vestry meetings liolden by the principal inhabitants of this place
to take into consideration the propriety of purchasing a new

POPULAE RHYMES, ETC, RELATING TO DURHAM. 87

rope for the one bell of their parish church, the churchwardens
and ratepayers at last came to the conclusion that the old one
should be spliced. [A similar story is told of Ancroft bell-rope.
Ancroft is in North Durham.]

An otter in the Wear you may find but once a year,
But an otter in the Tees you may find at your ease.

Otters are by no means uncommon in the Tees at the present
day; and, if we grant the rhyme a little license, it is, to a
certain extent, true.

Fuller says that an otter is as destructive to fish as the wolf
is to sheep. In Ireland the country people call the otter the
Devil's water dog.

May the Tees prove a Teazer to the Tyne akd to the Thames.

A very allowable bishoprick wish. It is curious for its
alliteration.

To Warn the Water.

To warn — i.e., to give notice.

This peculiarly local expression is only heard in the lower or
eastern vales of the river Tees — a stream which, from the
rapidity of its upper course, and from the numerous tributary
rivers and smaller streams it receives in its passage down to the
village of Croft, often rises very suddenly, and occasionally to
the depth of nine, and even more, extra feet of water. The
consequence was that, at a not very distant period, an inhabi-
tant of Hurworth, who we may term the Warner of the Water,
was usually despatched to Yarm, to give the inhabitants of that
toAvn notice of its approach. On the morning of Sunday, the
17th November, 1771, the whole town of Yarm — (not so much*
as a single house excepted) — was laid under water. Six dwell-
ing-houses were totally demolished and seven persons drowned.

88 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

In the medieval period a warning of the waters, in the
distant vales of Northumberland, was a warning of a very
opposite character ; and was used to give notice of the approach
of their Scottish neighbours when making an inroad in search
of the beeves and muttons of the equally thievish Northumbrians,
in the ballad of Jamie Telfer, old Buccleuch is made to say :

Gar warn the water braid and wide,
Warn "Wat o' Harden and his sons,
Wi' them will Borthwick water ride.

In the ballad of Hobbie Noble we also meet with the following
illustration :

Gar warn the bows of Hartlie-burn,
See they sharp arrows on the wa' ;

Warn Willeva and Spear Edom,
And see the morn they meet me a'.

When Roseberry Topping wears a hat,
Morden-Carrs will suffer for that.

Near and adjoining unto Morden, an extensive manor within
the parish of Sedgefield, lies that large level called the Carrs,
containing many hundred acres. In winter this track is fre-
quently overflowed, and then forms an immense sheet of water ;
at which time vast flocks of wild geese, and ducks, &c., &c.,
resort thither. The river Skerne, which Hollinshed is pleased
to term a " pretie water," has its source in this marsh near
Trimdon, in the parish of Kelloe.

Jarrow.

1 . Bump against Jarrow.

This is a common proverbial expression amongst keelmen
and others when they run foul of anything.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 89

The laddie ran sweaten, ran sweaten,

The laddie ran sweaten about,
Till the keel went bump against Jarrow,

And three of the bullies lap out.

Song, The Little Pee Dee.

2. It's never Dark in Jarrow Church.

This is one of the monkish fables with which the counties of
Durham and Northumberland abound, and the saying has no
doubt been handed down from an extremely early period.

Hartlepool, where the man was smoored to death
Sinking for a draw-well in his father's backside.

The above singular phrase is valuable if only as an illustration
of the word " backside," as used in the dialects of the north of
England. This half -laughable tragedy actually befel the person
of one Nicholas "Ward, the 10th February, 1715-16, and stands
recorded in one of the register-books belonging to Hartlepool
Church.

Headlam Hens lay twice a day.

A gentle hint in the place of one more discourteous : to wit,
that of telling a person he's a liar. Headlam, a small village
in the extensive Saxon parish of Gainford.

A Brussleton Ceacker.

Brussleton, a small hamlet, near West Auckland. This say
ing is derived from the fact that the coals dug from the mines
at this place, being so full of pyrites (vidgo, crackers), are con-
tinually exploding and casting forth their sulphureous perfumes,
to the great dread and anno}?ance of every one sitting round the
hearthstone. It is also applied to a variety of other sorts of
explosions.

90 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Up wi' leede,* and down wi' breede,f
Is what we drink at Wardale| Heede.§

As the rhyme stands in the text the sense is extremely
indefinite ; but if we give the word want in lieu of that of
drink, we arrive at what we may suppose to be the wishes of
the inhabitants, who are nearly all lead-miners, and at the
sense too.

Varia :

Dear lead and cheap bread

Makes full pockets at "Weardale Head.

Since writing the above note I have consulted a literary
friend, long resident in Weardale, who tells me that he has
often heard the rhyme quoted as it stands at the head of this
article. He further says, " It's real meaning you will more
readily understand by putting it thus :

Up wi' leede, and down wi' breede,

Is the toast we drink at Wardale Heede ;

and I hope that this will prove satisfactorily to you that the poor
fell-side folks neither drink their leede nor yet their breede."

This local rhyme reminds me of the still more popular one
spoken of the Cobbler's Wife, viz.: —

The meal cheap, and shoon dear.
The cobbler's wife likes well to hear.

Hungry- Heaton.

This name is popularly given to the village of Hutton-Honry,
near Monk Hesleton. The reason I know not.

* Lead. t ^read. f Weardale. § Head.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 91

From Axwell Park to Sliotley,

A squirrel could leap from tree to tree.

Axwell Park, in the townsliip of Winlatoii and parish of
Eyton, is the seat of the family of Clavering, descendants of
Serlo de Burg, a follower of William the Conqueror.

By Shotley we must understand Shotley Bridge, on the south
side of the river Derwent, in the township of Benfieldside and
parish of Lanchester.

Living witnesses, I have been told, still exist who can attest
the fact recorded in the rhymes.

[To this there are two Scotch parallels :

And:

From Bathket moss to Barbachlee
Ane cat could loup frae tree to tree.

From Culbirnie to the sea

You may step from tree to tree. — J. H.]

Durham-"— THE most Northern County in England.

At no distant period, not only Xorthallerton, Craike, and
Howdenshire in Yorkshire, belonged to this county but also
Bedlingtonshire, N orhamshire and Islandshire, on the north and
north-east of Northumberland ; the two latter districts including
the following five parishes : Ancroft, Holy Island or Lindisfarne,
Kyloe, Norham, and Tweedmouth.

A Sunderland Ball.

A saying used at the noble and manly game of cricket. It is
also varied to a '' Newcastle Ball," i.e., a bad one.

Binchester Pennies.
Binchester, near Bishop Auckland, is the site of a Roman

92 THE DEXHAM TKACTS.

city. Ancient copper coins are continually found here which
the neighbouring people call Binchester pennies. Similar coins
found at Piersbridge [the Magis ad Tisam or Condatum of the
Romans] are called toft pieces or pennies. In Hampshire they
are called 07i{on pennies ; in Northamptonshire coster or caster
])ence ; at Tadcaster, Yorkshire, Langharrow pennies ; and in
the neigbourhood of Leeds^ Saracen's heads.

I GAVE HIM [or her] WASHINGTON.

That is, did my work quickly and roughly. But as to
whether it alludes to the village of that name in the bishopric
or the celebrated General Washington I dare not at present
decide. The saying is very common in the north of England.

BeNFIELDSIDE, WHERE THE DeVIL STOLE THE KeY OF THE QuAKERs'

Meeting-House.
Benfieldside, in the parish of Lanchester, is celebrated as the
site of one of the earliest Quaker meeting-houses in England.

Varia

Hang-Bank, Legs-Cross, and Bildershaw,
Make many a horse to pufF and blaw.

Legscross Hill and Bildershaw,
Make many a horse to piifF and blaw.

Three long and lofty hills, the former near Melsonby in York-
shire and the other between Piersebridge * and West Auckland
in the bishopric. Upon the top of Legs- Cross Hill is a curious
memorial stone, or rather stones, for there are thrti , and on
this spot tradition says at a very early period two Kings of
England and Scotland signed a League or Treaty of Peace.
Hence the corrupted name. It is also said that from this Cross
King James I. of England viewed Baby Castle and pronounced
it to be the fairest castle in his dominions.

* The author lived at Piersebridge.

POPULAR IIHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 93

Bishop Auckland i' Bisho'brigg, God help me !

Bishop Auckland used at no very distant period to be pro-
verbiallj famous for beggars and thieves. Almost every beggar
if asked where he came from used to answer in a most pitiful
tone that he came from Bishop Auckland. It even still
retains a little of its quondam celebrity. Many parallel pro-
verbs exist, viz.: —

Saffron Walden, God help me !
Binsey, God help me !
Tickhill, God help me !

When there's never a hare on Garmondsway Moor,
In Bishop-Middleham there's never a whoore.

The rhyme does not speak very favourably of certain fair
dames in Middleham in county Dunelm.

BiSHOP-MlDDLEHAM ; WHERE MlGHT RULES ElGHT.

It is probable this saying had its origin in the Commonwealth
period. Tradition still tells a story how John Brabant, a
soldier in Cromwell's army, came with a file of soldiers to eject
the old vicar who had held the living full forty years. His
parishioners, however, we are told fought right valiantly on the
occasion and got possession of the pulpit, which they looked
upon as their chief stronghold. Brabant made a soldierlike
retreat into the chancel, where, mounting the communion-table
and placing a brace of horse-pistols by his side, he there stood
and preached a long sermon. After this event Brabant retained
possession of not only the pulpit but also what he no doubt
would esteem more highly the proceeds of the living.

94 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Eound about Ferry-Hill, Hey for Hett,
There's mony a bonny lass, but few to get.

A rhyme extremely opposite to the one above given. Ferry-
Hill and Hett are two villages at no great distance from
Durham.

As to the rare predilection of the lasses of these two localities
for the happy state of single-blessedness, I can in no form or
fashion rationally account, but will not omit making inquiries
into the truthfulness, &c., of the rhyme the first time I am in
either of those maidish districts.

Trimdon Trough-legs stands on a hill,
Poor silly Fishburn stands stock-still ;
Butterwick walls are like to fall,
But Sedgefield is the flower o' them all.

The village of Trindon, as the rhyme hints, stands on a hill,
and is situated about three and a-half miles north-east of Sedge-
field. Tradition says that it was here King Canute and his
suite doffed their shoon and trimmed their beards, and had their
polls shorn, ere they set out on pilgrimage to the shrine of St.
Cuthbert at Durham. Fishburn is rather a pretty village in the
parish of Sedgefield. The hamlet of Butterwick is also situated
in the same parish. Sedgefield, a large and highly respectable
village, or rather decayed market-town, stands pleasantly and
healthfully on a prominent swell of gravel ground, open to every
aspect. The whole of the adjacent lands are in a very high
state of cultivation.

A "Walk to Hendon Gardens,

A walk to meet a sweetheart at this spot of assignation. The
Hendon Gardens lie to the south of Sunderland. There used to
be a Lover s Walk between the gardens and Hendon forty years
ago !

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 93

A Crow shall sit upon Bolani Cross and drink blood a yard high.

A foolish old proj)hecy, which tradition ascribes to Mother
Shipton, the Yorkshire witch, who, in common with Robin
Goodfellow, Oliver Cromwell, and the Devil, has more laid
to her charge than she was guilty of.

(1) The popular version gives "has to " instead of " shall."

A COLLECTION OF BISHOPKICK RHYMES, PEOVERBS,

AND SAYINGS, IN CONNEXION WITH THE

BORDEE AND FEUDAL PEEIODS.

" We live hy Rapine^ — The Mosstrooper's Motto.

Well-i-wa, sal ys homes blaw,

Haly-rode this day ;
Now es he dede, and lies law,

Was wont to blaw them ay.

Variorum reading —

Wei, qwa sal thir homes blau,

Haly Eod thi day ?
Now is he dede and lies law
Was wont to blaw thaim ay*^

Sir Cuthbert Sharp in his BisJiopricJc Garland observes, " that
this is the oldest genuine rhyme connected with the county of
Durham. It is a lamentation on the death of Eobert Neville,
Lord of Raby, in the year mcclxxxii, in allusion to the ancient
custom of offering a stag at the high altar of Durham Priory on
Holy-rood Day (Sept. 18), which ceremony was accompanied by
the winding of horns. There is no doubt whatever but that the
above rhyme is as old as the thirteenth century, yet to call it
' the very oldest rhyme of the north ' is all but ridiculous. True,
it is the " most auncientest " which has been handed down to us

96 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

in its genuine antique English dress, and for this we must thank
some good scribe of oulden time. Yet we have many others,
which have not been so fortunate as to meet with a nourice of
antiquities to chronicle them in a bake, which I question not can
boast of a much earlier origin, and which, I feel confident,
neither Mr. Surtees nor yet Sir Cuthhert Sharp {our righte loorthie
bishoprick knyghte, and popular archaeologist) would have written
down as juniors of the one quoted in the text."

A Weardale Wolf.

A reproach rather uncharitably bestowed on the male portion
of the population of that district of the county of Durham.

" Thir Weardale men, they have good hearts,

They are as stiff as any tree,
For, if they'd every man been slain,

Never a foot back man would flee.

Ballad of the RooTchope Hyde.

At present the men of Weardale bear the still more undignified
title of " Weardale Gowks."

1. Bellasis, Bellasis, base was thy sowl,

When thou exchanged Bellasis for Henknowl.

2. Bellasys, Bellasys, daft was thy sowel.
When exchanged Bellasys for Henknowel.

3. Johnny tuth Bellas, daft was thy poll,
When thou chang'd Bellas for Henknoll.

4. Belasise, Belassis, daft was thy nowle.
When thou gave Bellassis for Henknowle.

5. Bellasys, Be'lysys, base was thy sowel,
When exchanged Bellysys for Henknowell.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 97

A version of the foregoing rhymes is preserved in a window in
the fine old parish church of St. Andrew, Auckland, inscribed on
a belt, encircling the arms of the Bellasis family. The popular
traditional version of the neighbourhood is recorded in reading
three. Numbers four and five are the readings of Collins and
Hutchinson respectively.

In 1380 a commission was granted empowering the con-
vent of Durham to exchange with Bellasis, Henknoll, near
Auckland, for lands near Wolviston. The exchange was favour'
able to the church. John de Bellasys having made a vow to go
upon the Crusades, and a strong affection for his native place of
Bellasys prevailing, likely to stagger ' his pious resolutions, he
determined to shake off that yoke, root out all partialities, and
part with the estate of his ancestors, the regard for which stood
in competition with his imaginary virtues.

Short Red is good Eed ; slea ye the Bishop.

So intolerable were the severities exercised by Walcher, Bishop
of Durham, in his civil and ecclesiastical government, that he
became odious to the people. On the 14th of May, 1780,
he held a public assembly of his council and clergy at Gates-
head, where a number of the people met to revenge the death of
a popular Saxon noble and his family, he murderers of whom
Walcher allowed to go unpunished. The multitude, rejecting
all proposals, beset the house with loud clamour, and the above
sentence being pronounced as a watchword, they drew their
arms and butchered all the guards. The bishop retreated to the
church, but the infuriated people set fire to it and put every one
to death who attempted to escape. The prelate was the last
to fly, and, having put up a prayer to Heaven, he advanced
towards the multitude and was instantly pierced to the heart
with a lance ; after which, his death not staying their barbarity,

H

98 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

they inhumanly mangled his body with their swords. The
modern reading of the above proverb is, " Short counsel is good
counsel; slayye the bishop.^''

A coward ! a coward ! o' Barney Castle,
Dare na' come out to fight a battle !

This saying, which is very common, in all probability refers
to the " Eising in the North," 1569, and might be contempt-
uously thrown by the besieging army of Percy and Neville in
the teeth of Sir George Bowes, who, acting upon the defensive,
had shut himself up in Barnard Castle. Sir Cuthbert Sharp
notices this reproachful saying in his Memorials of tlie Rehellion^
1569. It is occasionally varied to cowardly, cowardly, &c. &c.

The black lion under the oaken tree

Makes the Saxon to fight and the Normans to flee. •

Varia, as given by a female of the Brackenbury family, whose
name she bore :

The Brackenbury under the tree

Made the Normans conquer and the Saxons flee.

The crest of the ancient family of Brackenbury, of Sellaby,
near Gainford, is. Or, a tree vert, under which is a lion couchant,
sable. Neither history nor tradition has handed down to pos-
terity any memorial in confirmation of the truth of the above
couplet. That they were a military family there is no doubt,
for I find that Robert, son of Sir William de Brackenbury, was,
with thirty others, appointed, tenth of Bishop Richard de Bury,
4 February, 1342, to array all the defensible men in Dar-
lington Ward to oppose the Scots. Sir Robert de Brackenbury
was Constable of the Tower of London, temp. Richard III.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 99

The Bloody Brackenburies.

One of the first acts of the third Richard, on ascending a
usurped throne, was to send for Sir Robert de Brackenbury,
Constable of the Tower, whom he commanded to put the young
princes — Edward V. and his brother, Eichard, Duke of York —
to death. On Sir Robert observing *' that he knew not how to
dip his hands in blood j^^ the king desired him to resign to others,
for a single night, the keys and custody of the regal fortress.
In complying with this order it is difficult to say, at this period,
how far Brackenbury deserved blame ; though to speak of him
as a high-minded person, because he refused himself to perpetrate
a crime, which he made no effort to prevent others from com-
mitting, is to go very far beyond what the rules of moral justice
will sanction. Be that as it may, a fit instrument was found in
the person of Sir James Tyrrel, who again employed meaner
assassins under him, and the poor children were the same night
suffocated in their sleep, and buried at the foot of the stairs,
under a heap of stones.

An ancient tower in connection with Barnard Castle, by an
odd circumstance, bears the name of Brackenbury's Tower, a
name which we naturally associate with imprisonment and
blood !

Solum Dunelmensb stola jus dicet et ense.

The Bishop of Durham has the power of presiding in person
in any of the courts of judicature ; even when judgment of
blood is given he may sit attired in his purple robes, though the
canons forbid any clergyman to be present on such occasions.
Hence the above saying. Previous to the reign of Henry VIII.
the Bishops of Durham could create barons, appoint judges,
^''onvoke Parliaments, raise taxes, and coin money. This see

h2

100 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

was anciently called the Patrimony of St. Cuthhert ; and the
inhabitants considered themselves St. Cuthbert's llaiijiverke-
folke, exempt from all other but holy work, i.e. the defence of
St. Cuthbert's body. They claimed to hold their land by this
tenure, and refused to serve out of the bishoprick either for
king or bishop. The Bishop of Durham, as Count Palatine,
was lord of the whole county. He sustains two characters in
one person, and is to this day, and has been from time imme-
morial, styled on all claims in the King's Court, " Episcopus
Duuelmensis et Comes Sadberge."

The Collingwoods have borne the name,
Since in the bush the buck was ta'n :
But when the busli shall hold the buck,
Then farewell * faith, and farewell luck.

The crest of the Collingwoods is a stag at full gaze, under
an oak-tree proper. A branch of this family (originally of
Eslington, county Northumberland) was seated in the county
of Durham, at Dalden, Eppleton, and Hetton-on-the-Hill.
[From the Bishoprick Garland.^

The Brave Boweses.

A deserving and well-earned characteristic bestowed in olden
time upon one of the most ancient and time-honoured families
of the bishopric.

The castle of Bowes, under Stanemoor, was built by Allan
Niger, the first Earl of Richmond^ wherein he placed his rela-
tive Gulielmus (who for the nonce assumed the name of
Arcubus) as lieutenant over five hundred archers. The earl
also bestowed upon him his own shield with the arms of
Bretagne, and three bows and a bundle of arrows for his
standard. Tradition assigns to him the ancestorship of the

* Varia, welcome.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 101

famous and knightly family of Bowes of Streatlam Castle. Sir
William Bowes was created knight-banneret at the battle of
Poictiers, 1346. Sir Eobert Bowes was created knight-ban-
neret at the siege of Roan, 1419. Sir William Bowes was
knighted at the battle of Vermoyle, in France, 1424. Sir Ralph
Bowes was knighted at the battle of Flodden, 1514. Sir George
Bowes, knight, heir male of the whole family, withstood the
rebellion of the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland,
and was by special commission made knight-marshal north of
the Trent. He died 1580, aged 53. In glancing over the
Bowes pedigree we meet with the following names honourable
for their antiquity, viz. : Trayne, Lilburne, Conyers, the family
of Greystock, Fitzhugh, Hilton, Bulmer, Eure, Aske, Mallory,
Collingwood, Musgrave, Talbot, Blakiston, Salvin^ Yerney,
Challoner, Liddel. In a MS. {temp, sixteenth century) epitaph
of this family still preserved we read as follows : —

Happie, thrice happy England was thou then esteem'd,
When those brave Bowes did in thy blessed realm abound,

But as unhappie now thou may be justly deem'd,
For fiewe, alas ! suche Bowes can in thyself be found.

QmcQUiD Bex habet extra Episcopus habet intra.

A legal Latin maxim applicable up to the reignof Henry YIII.
to the Palatinate of Durham. This county became palatinate
soon after if not anterior to the Norman Conquest ; the bishops
exercising within the county jura regalia as strictly as the
reigning monarchs did in other parts of their dominions, regu-
lem, potestatem in omnibus, as Bracton. who wrote in the reign
of Henry VIIL, expresses it. Most of these princely honours
and privileges were taken away in the reign of the above-named
monarch.

102 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

God Save the Bull of Westmoreland.

The warlike prayer of a feudal period used by the retainers
and followers of the Nevilles of Raby and Brancepeth.

Eobert Pierson, Vicar of Sockburn (1567) in the bishopric,
was an adventurer in a great lottery which was drawn in the
above year ; and upon his ticket he wrote the above prayer by
way of motto, poesy or device, which sufficiently bewrays his
strong attachment to the noble Nevilles' house. His prayers,
however, availed it not.

Saufey Money.

Protection money formerly paid by many of the inhabitants
of the counties of Durham and Northumberland to marauders,
in consideration of their not stealing their cattle. A corruption
of safety money, — Brockett's Glossary of North Country Words,
vol. ii. p. 110.

Sweet Jesse, for thy mercy's sake,

And for thy bitter passion,
Save us from the axe of the Tower,

And from Sir Ralph of Ashton.

According to one tradition the above rhymes commemorated
the valiant actions of one Ashton at the battle of Neville's Cross
in this county ; where he, of whom no historical or traditional
particulars are known, rode through the ranks of the enemy and
bore away the royal standard from the tent of the Scottish
king. For this act of heroism he was knighted by Edward III.
To commemorate his own valour he is said to have instituted
the following custom, and to have left ten shillings yearly (now
reduced to five shillings) in support of it, along with his own
suit of black velvet and a coat of mail, the helmet of which still
remains.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC , RELATING TO DURHAM. 103

Another account says that tlie rhymes were composed in dis-
honour of Sir Ralph Ashton, or Asheton, who in the latter part
of the fifteenth century exerted great severity as vice-constable.
The ancient custom of ^' Hidincr the Black Lad " at Ashton-
under- Lyne on Easter Monday, which consists in carrying an
effigy on horseback through the town, shooting at it, and finally
burning it, -is alleged to have taken its origin from this indi-
vidual, who, according to tradition, was shot as he was riding
through the principal street.

Altogether the traditions touching both the custom and the
origin of the rhymes are extremely conflicting.

Addenda to the Ehymes, etc., of the Bishoprick.

Further variations of the Brackenbury Rhymes {see those
already given, pp. 98, 99).

3. The Black Lion under the oaken tree,
Made the Normans fight and the Saxons flee.

4. The Black Lion under the tree,

Made the Norman to fight and the Saxons to flee.

A version of these rhymes is said to have been inscribed on
the tomb of Perse Brackenbury, a companion of the Conqueror,

Gain ford, where the parson married a Pigg,
Christened a Lamb, and buried a Hogg.

And what makes the thing more remarkable is, that these
three religious duties were performed on three consecutive days,
eg., John Pigg being married on a Saturday, Henry Lamb
christened on Sunday, and John Hogg buried on Monday. —
(Vide Gainford Church Register Book. The Rev. John Cranke,
B.D., vicar. The Rev. Marmaduke TheakstonCj curate, 1814.)

104 THE DENHAM TKACTS.

Barnard Castle

A Briggate bred-un.

That is a female of a certain class born in Barnard Castle,
and bred up in that Billingsgate portion of the town, yclept
Briggate, or as the modern inhabitants of the said foul, filthy,
foetid alley would gladly have it called, " Bridge Street ! "

He's ltke a Stanhope Pan — black both inside and outside.

Occasionally it has been my fate to come in contact with
certain specimens of humanity who have been in these unhappy
circumstances. May I, however, so conduct myself in my
dealings with fellow-men that no one, no, not even my enemy,
may ever be able to say that my heart is in a condition similar
to that of a Stanhope Pan.

The saying is from the Scottish border.

The Devil's Dean.

Dean "Whittingham, who was appointed 19 July, and in-
stalled 8 Oct. 1563, was so called by his enemies. He was
a violent opposer of the sacerdotal vesture, and certainly was
guilty of numerous acts which have rendered his very name
execrable, not only to theologians, but also to archaeologists.
Richard Bancroft calls him " the false and unworthy Dean of
Durham." In fact, he was a rank Calvinist, and kept the
Church of Durham in a continual disturbance, till at last the
State saw it necessary to interfere. He died at Durham,
10 June, 1579, and was buried in the cathedral church.

Tyne, Tume, or Twme Tabard.

This epithet or nickname was bestowed on John Buliol by the
Scots, on account of his supposed cowardice, in that he con-

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATIKQ TO DURHAM. 105

ceded to England liis independent sovereignty, and as a conse-
quence his armorial insignia. So that, as Wyntown, in his
Chronikil^ vol. ii. pp. 88, 89, expresses it, by his enemies
" Twyme-Tabart he was callyt efterwart."

By some 1 yne is looked upon as a misprint for Tume, yet Tyne
may be the true reading Tume-Tabart, i.e., empty coat. To
Tyme, signifies to lose, and by implication, that Baliol had lost
his heraldic coat.

A HuREOCK OF Stones.

The escheat of Raby, it is understood, was purchased for the
sum of £10,000, It is furthermore said, that when Sir Harry
Vane was driving the bargain for the castle and estates with the
king and the citizens of London, he told the king that Raby
Castle was only a liurrock of stones. When King Jamie, who
afterwards visited Sir Harry at the noble pile of Raby, saw the
stately feudal castle, with its many tours and grete chaumbres
and hawles (in one of which the noble Nevilles of olden time
did, it is said, " once upon a time " entertain '' seven hundred
knights, who held of the family "), he could not but remark to
Sir Harry : " Did thou na' say that Eaby Castle was only a
hurrock of stanes ! Ah ! mon, I hae nae sic anither hurrock
in a' ma' dominions."

Hurrock. — This word is still used in the various dialects of
the North to express a piled-up heap of loose stones or rubbish ;
in fact, a collection of anything in a loose state.

Little London.

A certain locale in the otherwise pretie littel towne of Bishop
Auckland is so designated, and is inhabited by muggers,
tinkers, fawes, and gypsies. A Christian lady (the late Mrs.
Dobson) visited one of these poor people when dying. Mrs. D.

106 THE DEXHAM TRACTS.

found her very ignorant, and, speaking to lier of Jesus Christ
Avas answered by this English heathen that she had never heard
of the gentleman. Being, however, further pressed on the sub-
ject, she at length confessed that she once went into a Methodist
meeting-house at Darlington, and she had heard the gentleman
spoken of there ! !

I have the highest authority for the truthfulness of the above
bisho'brigg anecdote.

He's fit to Keep Company with the Lambtons.

In the northern portion of the bishoprick, and southern
border of Northumberland, they have an old saw, when speak-
ing of a dashing, flashing, stylish fellow, " Oh I he's fit to keep
company with the Lambtons."

SUPPLEMENT TO THE RHYMES, PROVERBS, SAYINGS,
ETC., OF THE COUNTY OP DURHAM.

Two namesakes of late, in a different way,
With much spirit and zeal did bestir 'em;
The one was transported to Botany Bay,
The other translated to Durham.

Barrington, the notorious pickpocket, and the Hon. Shute
Barrington, Bishop of Durham, were contemporaries ; and
nearly at the same time the former was transported for felony,
and the latter promoted from the Bishopric of Salisbury to the
rich see of Durham.

To record these two events a certain scribe of the day writ the
above epigram.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 107

The NevHls in future ages shall be known
Both by their mother's virtues and their own.

Cheviot, a Poetical Fragment.

" The names of the Percies and Nevilles have long been

honourable and well beloved." — Thomas Norton's Address to the

Rebels, 1569.

A Gatesider.

A low bred vulgar fellow.

A Stanhope "Wolf.
The above designation is, I understand, equally as applicable
to the natives of the above town as that of Weardale Wolf is to
the natives of the dale in general. It also has a local appro-
priateness, inasmuch as there is a ravine within a few miles of
Stanhope, which still retains the name of Wolf-Cleugh. There
is also proof from a Roman altar, still preserved at the rectory
manse, which commemorates the capture of a wild hoar, that
that animal (as well as the wolf) was an inhabitant of the
primitive forests of Weardale.

Weardale weaker and wiser,
Hurwood bigger and fonder.

This saying alludes to the bodily and intellectual strength of
the peoples inhabiting the above two somewhat out-of-the-way
districts. Harwood is situate almost at the head of the river
Tees, and is separated from Weardale by a narrow mountain
range.

He has found a Pot of Gold in the Castle Garth.
(Extracts from a Poem. Scene, Stockton-on-Tees.)
A castle there you may behold,
Seated upon a rising ground,
Where many a weighty Pot of Gold,
Is hidden all around ;
But how folks came there gold to leave
I can't conceive.

108 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

The gold that's buried all belonged
Unto this mighty giant here ;
His court with slaves was ever throng'd,
His parks were always stocked with deer.

Now underground there is his stable,
Where yet remains the bones of camels,
And men, if they are willing and able,
May walk from thence into the shambles.

There is a tradition that many urns or pots of gold are hidden
here. It has also become a proverbial saying, if a man growls
rich of a sudden, that he has found a pot of gold in the castle
garth. There is also a tradition of a long cave, reaching from
the burn to the shambles, inhabited, they tell you, by bones,
gold, and hobgoblins, of which they tell many wonderful stories.
— Newcastle Literary Register or Weekly Miscellany, 1772,
vol. iv. p. 251.

The demolition of Stockton Castle, a.d. 1652, is also chronicled
in verse (?) by a local poet, thus —

Old Noll in his day out of pious concern,

This castle demolish'd, sold all but the barn. [J. H.J

Ah Dunelmia ! Nimium Vicina Scotiae.

^' While in the plenitude of his fortune Bishop Morton's
charities and hospitality were abundant ; and so freely did the
king and his courtiers make use of his liberality in their
frequent journeys between London and Scotland that it became
proverbial." — Barwick's Life of Morton. Brewster's Stockton,
p. 48, ed. 1829.— [J. H.]

Barney Castle Gingerbread.

" The best in the world." So it is described by Mr, Brockett,
Northern Glossary, p. 26, 3rd ed. So also wo have Shrewsbury
cakes, Banbury cakes, and Everton toflfee.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 109

The Wishing Chair.

Beneath a cliair in Finchale priory church is shown a seat
said to have the virtue of removing sterility and procuring issue
for any woman who, having performed certain ceremonies, sat
down therein and devoutly loislied for a child. Tradition says
that this seat v/as formerly in great repute, and, though of stone,
it appears much worn by frequent suitors for pregnancy.

It may, perhaps, be needless to observe, that since the removal
of the monks it has entirely lost its efficacy. — Grose's Antiquities.

Jolly-boddy and Shittlehope-side all of a raw,
And then bonny Stanhope the best o' them a'.

A fragmentary couplet of rough rhymes, merely descriptive of
the position of the houses on a hill to the north of Stanhope.

They're like Toft-Hill Stockings — They'll fit owther
Lad or Man.

Spoken of worthless and slightly-made apparel of any descrip-
tion, possessing neither shape, make, form, nor fashion.

"When Yarm sinks and Egglescliffe swims, Aislaby will be a

Market Town.

An old prophecy, said to have been uttered by a witch. Yarm,
anciently Yareham and Yarum, is situated very low on the
Yorkshire banks of the River Tees ; Egglescliffe, as its name
imports, on a lofty acclivity on the bishoprick side of the river.
It is traditionally believed that in days of yore a market was
held in the village ; and in proof thereof the people point to the
remains of a ruinated cross still standing in the open space in
the " middest" of the village green. Aislaby, in the parish of
Egglescliffe, is about one mile distant from Yarm.

liO THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Hamsterley Hungertown stands on a hill ;
Witton-le-Wear lies in a gill : *
Wolsingham's proud, and breeds that at's Donnat,t
Frosterley's poor, but has a good stomach.

The pleasantly situated village of Hamsterley is about, seven
miles west-by-north of Bishop Auckland. Witton-le-Wear is
within the jurisdiction of St. Andrew Auckland, as also is
Hamsterley. Both these villages are located as described in
the text.

Wolsingham is a small market-town and parish on the north
banks of the river Wear. As to the pride and worthless, or
rather devilish nature of its inhabitants, I cannot speak; yet
feel bound to enter on record that, " once upon a time," now
many long years ago, I was the recipient of almost unbounded
kindness at the residence of a gentleman, still living there, and to
whom at that period I was an entire stranger.

Donnat : a worthless wretch ; also a provincialism for the
Devil.

Frosterley is a village in the parish of Stanhope. The
phrase, " has a good stomach," I leave to the reader's imagi-
nation to translate either by great eaters or high-spirited ^eop?e;
only I prefer the latter, which is probably the correct meaning.

Sitting in Bede's Chair.

To this chair, still preserved in Jarrow church, many new-
made brides repair on the completion of the matrimonial ser-

* Witton-le-Wear stands on a sill. Sill is a term used by miners
for any land that appears metalliferous.

t Donnat is here used substantially [substantively ?] ; conse-
quently the ellipsis [of the] must be understood.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 11 1

vice, and seat themselves therein. This is done under the
hope of making tliemselves fruitful mothers of many children in
all due time.

[Three wishes are granted to those who sit in the saint's
chair. " Some few years since this chair was entrusted to the
custody of a j^erson who had been accustomed to nautical aflPairs,
and who used, by a whimsical mistake, very excusable in a
sailor, to exhibit it as a curiosity which formerly belonged to
the great Admiral Bede, upon whose exploits he ventured
several encomiums consistent with the naval character." —
{Curiosities of the Pulpit ^ by Rev. Thomas Jackson, p. 32.) —
[J. H.]

Seaton sluice and Hartlepool mill,

The one goes round, the other stands still.

An old rhyme, in connection with which I can offer no
solution.

The water of Hezzle well
Will make tea by itself.

Spoken of the waters of an excellent enclosed wayside spring,
a little to the west of the village of Stainton, near Barnard
Castle.

Picktree and Pelaw,
And Kickleton on the hill ;
Lambton and Biddick,
And Johnie Floater's mill.

The first four places are in the parish of Chester-lc' Street.
North Biddick, is on the Wear, in tlie parish of Washington.
In this township is the celebrated Worm Rill.

112 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Thu Lang Man o' Bollyhope.

The warriors on the [mountain] high
Moving athwart the evening sky,

Seem'd forms of giant lieight :
Their armour as it caught the rays,
riash'd back again the western blaze

In lines of dazzling light.

Bolliope, or Bf>llyliope, is a high ridge of black mountains,

about four miles from Wolsingham. On the top of this dreary

and sterile track is a ciirrack or curragh* [a pillar of stones],

known by the name of March stones on the Border. Tradition

states that one clear summer's evening, many long years ago,

two tall figures were seen to meet on the top of the ridge, and

at once proceed to mortal strife. The clash of arms was heard

in the valley, and their forms, being set in relief against the

clear blue sky, seemed to dilate to that of the giants of old.

One of them was at length seen to fall, and the other, after

hovering about for a short space, vanished from sight. On the

morrow the mangled corpse of a tall man was found on the

spot. No person, however, knew him ; neither was there any

inquiry made after him. He was buried where he fell, and the

pile of stones which was reared on his grave is now known

as the

Lang man o' Bollyhope !

They'll come back again like the Pigs o' Pelton.

The origin and meaning of this saying is extremely obscure,
perhaps it means much the same as

They'll all come again as Goodyer's pigs did — never !

Bay^s Proverbs.

There is a trifling variation or two of this Pelton saw, but
unworthy of note. The version of the above and following
proverb arc those used in South Durham.

* This curragh is on the southernmost edge of Bollyhope.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 113

Thicker and Ranker like Pigs o' Pelton.

There is a strange doggerel hominy, whicli Sir Cuthbert
Sharp gives in his Bishoprick Garland, and says that it is still
sung by some of the inhabitants of Pelton to their children j
but no one is now aware of its application or origin. It fol-
lows —

The swine com jingling doun Pelton Ion in,
The swine com jingling doun Pelton lonin,
The swine com jingling doun Pelton lonin,
There's five black swine and never an odd one :
Three's i' the dike and two i' the lonin,
Three i' the dike and two i' the lonin,
Three i' the dike and two i' the lonin.
There's five black swine and nerer an odd one.

[Singularly, Mr. Denham has arranged this among the
Northumbrian sayings, but it is now remanded to its true posi-
tion — the Bishoprick. In Northumberland, however, the natives
apply the same saying to Felton.]

[" The Peacock of the North."

Robert Neville, so called from his splendour. In 1316 he
murdered Richard Fitzmarmeduk, his kinsman, upon Framwell-
gate Bridge, in Durham. He was killed, two years afterwards,
by James Earl of Douglas, whilst leading a lawless band of
robbers into Scotland. His monumental effigy, in stone,
remains in the north aisle of the church of Brancepeth. — Note
in Depositions and other Ecclesiastical Proceedings in the Courts
at Durham, p. 2. (Surtees' Soc. Pub.) — J. H.]

[Red Robin.
About half a mile north of the Long Bank, on the old

114 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Durham and Newcastle turnpike, near Low Eighton, or Ay ton,
is a public-house, " whilom kept by Isabella Stephenson, which
has long been known by the name of ^ Eed Robin's.' On its
sign-board is a picture of the house, with the following lines
underneath, as an invitation to travellers : —

Eed Robin lives here,
Sells good ale and beer ;
Pass ye east or pass ye west,
If ye pass here ye pass the best.

" Robin Rogerson was the first ' Red Robin.' His son Philip
bore the same title. Margaret Stephenson, the daughter of
Philip, continued the house after her father's death, under the
name of ' Red Peggy ' ; and her daughter, Isabella Stephenson,
since the conductress of the establishment, is best known as
' Red Bella.' It is said that this sobriquet was conferred upon
the father of this red race in consequence of the great value he
set upon a favourite red cock (a game cock) ; but he must have
been indebted for his title to something besides the cock, other-
wise he might with more propriety have been called ' Cock
Robin ' than ' Red Robin.' Philip was so fond of his favourite
colour, that he once appeared at Lamesley church completely
dressed in red, even to the very hat and shoes ; and his suc-
cessors have shown so steady an adherence to the hereditary
partiality of the family as to have prefixed to their names the
distinguishing title of ' Red.' " — Wilson's Pitmnn's Pay, 8fc.
p. 61, note. — J. H.]

Chakactbristics of a few Bishoprick Families.

The beggarly Baliols.

(So would our Scottish neighbours, at least, say.)
The base Bellasis.
The bloody Brackenburies.
The bold Bertrams.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 1 15

The bauld Blakestones.

The brave Bowes.

The bare-boned Bulmers.

The bacchanalian Burdons.

The clacking Claxtons.

The confident Conjers.

The crafty Craddocks.

The cozening Croziers.

The eventful Evers.

The friendly Forsters.

The filthy Foulthorpes.

The generous Garths.

The handsome Hansards.

The hoary Hyltons.

The jealous Jennisons.

The lamb-like (?) Lambtons.

The light Lilburnes.

The lofty Lumleys.

The mad Maddisons.

The manly Mairs.

The noble Nevilles.

The politic Pollards.

The placid Places.

The ruthless Ruths.

The salvable Salvins.

The shrewd Shadforths.

The sure Surteeses.

The testy Tailboyses.

The wily Wilkinsons.

The wrathful Wrens.

As of birds so of men, the Wrens are the most pugnacious
of all bipeds.

i2

110 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

APPENDIX TO DURHAM.

A MYTH OF MIDRIDGE ; OR, A STORY ANENT A
WITLESS WIGHT'S ADVENTURES WITH Y^E MID-
RIDGE FAIRIES IN YE BISHOPRICK OF DURHAM,
NOW MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES AGO.

Talking about fairies the other day to a nearly octogenarian
female neighbour, I asked had she ever seen one in her youthful
days. Her answer was in the negative ; " but," quoth she,
" I've heard my grandmother tell a story that Midridge (near
Auckland) was a great place for fairies when she was a child,
and for many long years after that." A rather lofty hill, only
a short distance from the village, was their chief place of resort,
and around it they used to dance, not by dozens but by hun-
dreds, when the gloaming began to show itself of the summer
nights. Occasionally a villager used to visit the scene of their
gambols in order to catch, if it were, but a passing glance of
the tiny folks, dressed in their vestments of green, as delicate
as the thread of the gossamer, for well knew the lass so favoured
that ere the current year had disappeared she would have
become the happy wife of the object of her only love ; and also
as well kenn'd the lucky lad that he, too, would get a Areel-
tochered lassie long afore his brow became wrinkled with age,
or the snow-white blossoms had begun to bud forth upon his
pate. Woe to those, however, who dared to come by twos or
by threes with inquisitive and curious eye within the bounds
of their domain, for if caught, or only the eye of a fairy fell •

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 117

upon them, ill was sure to betide them through life. Still more
awful, however, was the result, if any were so rash as to address
them either in plain prose or rustic rhyme. The last instance
of their being spoken to is thus still handed down by tradition :
— 'Twas on a beautifully clear evening in the mouth of August,
when the last sheaf had crowned the last stack in their master's
hagyard, and, after calling the " harvest home," the daytale-
men and household servants were enjoying themselves over
massive pewter quarts foaming over with strong beer, that the
subject of the evening's conversation at last turned upon the
fairies of the neighbouring hill, and each related his oft-told
tale which he had learned by rote from the lips of some parish
granddame. At last, the senior of the mirthful party proposed
to a youthful mate of his who had dared to doubt even the
existence of such creatures, that he durst not go to the hill,
mounted on his master's best palfrey, and call aloud at the full
extent of his voice the following rhymes : —

Rise little lads,

Wi' your iron gads,

And set the lad o' Midridge hame.

Tam o'-Shanter-like, elated with the contents of the pewter
vessels, he notliing either feared or doubted, and off went the
lad to the fairy hill ; so, being arrived at the base, he was
nothing loth to extend his voice to its utmost powers in giving
utterance to the above invitatory verses. Scarcely had the
last words left his lips ere he was nearly surrounded by many
hundreds of the little folks, who are ever ready to revenge with
the infliction of the most dreadful punishment every attempt
at insult. The most robust of the fairies, who I take to have
been Oberon, their king, wielding an enormous javelin, thus
also in rhymes, equally rough, rude, and rustic, addressed the
witless wight ; —

118 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Silly Willy, mount thy filly,

And if it isn't weel corn'd and fed,

I'll ha' thee afore thou gets hame to thy Midridge bed.

Well was it for Willy that his home was not far distant, and
that part light was still remaining in the sky. Horrified beyond
measure, he struck his spurs into the sides of his beast, who,
equally alarmed, darted oif as quick as lightning towards the
mansion of its owner. Luckily it was one of those houses of
olden time which would admit an equestrian and his horse
within its portals without danger ; lucky also was it that at the
moment they arrived the door was standing wide open ; so con-
sidering the house a safer sanctuary from the belligerous fairies
than the stable, he galloped direct into the hall, to the no small
amazement of all beholders, when the door was instantly closed
upon his pursuing foes I As soon as Willy was able to draw his
breath, and had in part overcome the effects of his fear, he
related to his comrades a full and particular account of his
adventures with the fairies ; but from that time forward never
more could any one, either for love or money, prevail upon
Willy to give the fairies of the hill an invitation to take an
evening walk with him as far as the village of Midridge !

To conclude. W^hen the fairies had departed and it was con-
sidered safe to unbar the door to give egress to Willy and his
filly, it was found, to the amazement of all beholders, that the
identical iron javelin of the fairy king had pierced through the
thick oaken door, which, for service as well as safety, was
strongly plated with iron, where it still stuck, and actually
required the strength of the stoutest fellow in the company,
with the aid of a smith's great fore-hammer, to drive it forth.
This singular relic of fairy-land was preserved for many gene-
rations, till, passing eventually into the hands of one who cared
for none of those things, it was lost, to the no small regret of all
lovers of legendary lore !

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO DURHAM. 119

Methinks I hear more than one " courteous reader " cry out
'' Phooh ! What have bona fide javelins of iron, or any other
of the paraphernalia of fairies, used either in offence or
defence, or their horses, or their dresses, to do with legitimate
fairyology ? They are things which we mortals are truly per-
mitted to see, but never, no never, to touch ! Phooh ! phooh !
It's all stuff and nonsense." Although I am perfectly aware
that nothing about a fairy can be touched or handled, the
whole being of that thin shadowy nature which enables it to be
embraced by the imagination alone, still I may be allowed
quaintly to observe that I am relating a myth, not writing an
Essay on the Fairy Mythology of my native county. For-
tunately we have, nevertheless, certain fairy relics which,
falling into more conservative hands than the javelin of Mid-
ridge, have, after passing through many generations, descended
to the present day ; witness the Cup of Eden Hall, in Cumber-
land, and also a Sacramental Cup still used in one of the
churches of the Isle of Man, which tradition, equally with that
of Eden Hall, asserts to have been acquired in much the same
way, from a gathering of festive fairies. These surely are to
me as a host in support of the Myth of MidridgCj which I tell to
others as 'twas told to me !

A Yorkshireman's Coat of Arms.

To wit : A Fly, a Flea, a Magpie, and a Flitch of Bacon.

A Cockney fling at the natives of the North Countrie, and
with Cocknies all Northerns are either Scots or Yorkshiremen.
The Cockneydom explanation is, " that a fly will drink with
any man, and so will a Yorkshireman ; a flea will bite any
man, and so will a Yorkshireman ; a magpie will chatter with
any one, and so will a Yorkshireman; and as for a flitch of
bacon, it is of no worth till it is hu7icfj no more is a Yorkshire-
man."

120 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

The chronicler of this cutting saw begs leave to say that,
although he is not a native of broad Yorkshire, should the
Londoners ever see proper to alter or make any additions to the
heraldic bearings of Yorkshire, not to omit to give a fighting
cock as the Yorkshireman's crest, for a Yorkshire game cock
of the true breed will turn his tail upon none of his species ; and
as for a Yorkshire Tyke, i.e., a Yorkshireman, I feel confident
that he would not only face three Cockneys, but would give them
all, one after another, what he would in his own country phrase
call a "reet good benzilling." — Literary Gazette, Sept. 6, 1850,
p. 676.

" WaESE ! AND WaRSE ! " AS THE PaRROT SAID TO THE

Yorkshireman.

A story is told how, once upon a time, an honest Northern
rode into the yard of a hostelry, somewhere in the siveet south,
and vociferated at the extent of his stentorian voice, " Wostler !
Wostler ! " Now it happened that a parrot (which hung in the
court-yard of this neglected mansion of the olden time, not
being so well acquainted with the dialectic tongues of Britain as
a few ryght lerned and unfeathered bipeds which I could readily
name) mistook the poor countryman for a native of the land of
cakes, and said to himself, in a voice sufficiently loud though to
be heard by the new-come guest, ^^ Proud Scot ! Proud Scot I /^^
The traveller, considering himself grossly insulted by the parrot,
cast his eyes up at Poll and retorted with, " Thou'se a d — d
hear, for Ize a Yorkshireman.^^ " Worse ! and Worse ! " quoth
the parrot. And so the dialogue ended, to the great chagrin of
the " honest Yorkshire bite."— iyi^^mr^ Gazette, Oct. 14, 1848,
p. 685.

III.

SLOGANS AND GATHERING CRIES OF THE
NORTH OF ENGLAND.

Then rose the slogan with a shout,

" To it, Tynedale ! " " Jethart's here ! "

Ancient Local Ballad.

Our slogan is their lyke-wake dirge.
Our moat the grave where they shall lie.

Lay of the Last Minstrel.

Slogans or slughorns, and war or gathering-cries, were common
throughout the whole of the European continent in the Middle
Ages ; and their primary object, no doubt, was to animate
the rival warriors at the moment of attack ; they were also used
as the watchword by which individuals of the same party recog-
nised each other, either amidst the darkness of night or in the
confusion of battle, and are in general found to be composed of
the name of the various leaders of the local bands of foemen
under whose banner they so courageously fought even unto
death.

Occasionally, as in Scotland, the name of the place of
rendezvous was used as the slughorn. The war-cry of kings
was, however, generally that of the patron saint of their country ;
to wit, that of the King of England, " St George " ; the King

k

122 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

of Scotland, " St. Andrew " ; while that of the King of France
was " Montjoye St. Denis." ♦

St. George he was for England, St. Denis was for France,
Sing, Honi soit qui mal y pense.

Ballad of St. George for England.

Few of the slushorns of the gallant Northerns have been
preserved to us, though formerly they made every heart beat
with ardour, every hand grasp its weapon, and every foot
hasten to its rendezvous ! Many of the ancient families, after
the union of the two kingdoms, converted their " war cries "
into mottoes.

The following passage from an old author is extremely valu-
able as illustrative of the use (or rather the abuse) of the
slogan :

" That whereas alweys, both in al townes of war and in al
campes of armies, quietness and stilness without nois is, prin-
cipally in the night, after the watch is set, observed (I need not
reason why). Yet, our Northern Prikkers, the Borderers, not-
withstanding, with great enormitie (as thought me) and not
unlyke (to be playn) unto a masterless hounde houlynge in a
hieway, when he hath lost hym he wayted upon, sum hoopyng,
some whistelying, and most with crying, a Ber-wyke ! a Berwyke I
a Fenwyke ! a Fenwyke ! a Bulmer ! a Bulmer ! or so otherwise
as theyr capteins names wear, never linnde those troublous and
daungerous noyses al the nyghte long. They said they did it to
fynde ont their captein and fellowes ; but if the soldiours of our
oother countries and sheres had used the same maner, in that
case we shoold have oftymes had the state of our campe more
lyke the outrage of a dissolute huntyinge than the quiet of a wel
ordered army." — (Patten's Account of Somerset's Expedition^
p. 76.)

SLOGANS OF THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. ' 123

Notwithstanding these honest and truthful remarks, the use of
the slogan is often alluded to by our ancient historians and poets.
The French called it cri de guerre; and an old Italian writer,
Sylvester Petra Santa, quaintly terms it clamor militaris.
Edward III. of England, in a skirmish near Paris, in mcccxlix.
cried "Ha, St. Edward!" (alluding to the Confessor), "Ha,
St, George ! " — (Chambers's Popular Rhymes, Scot., art.
"Slogans" [pp. 351,352].)

" Item, that all soldiers entering into battail, assault, skirmish,
or other faction of armes, shall have for their common cry and
word, ' St. George, forward ! ' or ' Upon them St. George ! '
whereby the soldier is much comforted." [Quoted in Nares'
Glossary.'] The hattle-cry of the Irish warrior was anciently
" Aboo ! " Henry VII. forbade its use, enjoining that of St.
George, instead, or otherwise that of the Christian name of the
king. [ Chambers, ut supra.~\

A striking instance of the esteem in which the patron saint of
England's soldiery was held at the battle of Poietiers is given
in a curious collection of poems, written by Peter Suchenwirt,
the German poet and herald of the fourteenth century : —

The Frenchmen shout forth " Notre Dame,"

Thus calling on Our Lady's name,

To which the English host reply,

" St. George ! St. George ! " their battle-cry.

Mr. Brockett, in his Glossary of North Country Words, derives
the word slogan from the Gaelic sluagh-ghairm, the signal for
battle among the Highland clans. On the same authority I may
quote that " the ancient Britons had their war-song, intituled
Arymes Prydian, or the armed confederacy of Britain, which
may be seen in the Cambrian Register. Tacitus mentions the
chaunters in the army who excited the soldiers to exert them-
selves, by setting forth as examples the glorious deeds of renowned

124 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

heroes. The uhoohoo ceannan, or yell of the Irish, became

proverbial."

The Percy Slogans.

1. Percy ! Percy ! !

2. A Percy ! A Percy !

3. Esperance Percy !

4. Thousands for a Percy !

5. Now " Esperance ! Percy ! " and set on !

" The two great princes of the North were the Earls of Northum-
berland at Alnwick, and Westmerland at Eaby Castle."

Grey's Chorographia of Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1649,

.... Gernon's fyrst-named Brutys bloude of Troy:
Which valiantly fyghtynge in the land of Perse,
At pointe terrible ayance tho miscreants on nyght,
An Hevynly mystery was schewed bym, old bookys rehearse ;
In hys schelde did schyne a Mone veryfying her lyght.
Which to all the ooste yave a perfytte fyght.
To vaunquys his enemys, and to deth them persue ;
And therefore the Perses the Cressant doth renew.
Old vellum pedigree, time Henry VII., in possession of the family.

No. 1 was the rallying cry of the Percies used at the battle of
Otterbourne {vide Froissart). At that fray the Percy standards,
" that every man myght full well knowe," were " the Whyte
Lyon, the Lucetts and the Cressaunts both." See St. James''s
Magazine, vol. i. pp. 369, 370, an article by Mr. W. Hylton
Longstaffe, in illustration of the ballad The Rising of the North.

The Percy name, from an extremely early period, has
shone forth as the brightest in the history of English chivalry ;
and from the union of the princely houses of Alnwick and Raby
sprang Henry Percy, who, from his noble bearing, energetic
character, and thirst for arms, obtained the honourable sobriquet
of Hotspur. Unfortunately the Percies, like their still less
fortunate relatives, the Nevilles, in a later page of history.

SLOGANS OF THE NORTH OF ENGIAND. 125

attempted to overthrow that khig (Henry IV.) they had been
so instrumental in raising to the tlirone ; for this purpose they
formed a confederacy with Douglas, Mortimer, Worcester, and
the no-less-celebrated Welsh chieftain, Owen Glendower. The
king hastened to meet them, and ere Glendower had been able
to join his forces with those of " Prince Hotspur of the North,"
he overtook them at Shrewsbury on xxi July, mcccciii. , where,
amid the conflicting cries of " St. George" on the part of the king
and that of" Esperance Percy " on the other part, began the battle
of Shrewsbury. Here the rival houses of Percy and Douglas —
butnowfightrng on the same side — performed prodigies of valour;
and here, too, fell the gallant Hotspur, pierced by an arrow
from a nameless hand. With him fell the confidence of the
insurgents, and their rout became almost instantly complete,
Douglas and Worcester were taken prisoners, the latter of whom
was beheaded. In this sanguinary battle history records that
2,300 gentlemen perished on both sides ; while of the common
soldiers more than 6,000 gave their carcases to fatten the already
blood-covered field.

The latter cry, " Thousands for a Percy," was raised before
Wressell Castle, near Howden, then the residence of the mother
of Sir Thomas Percy, by the followers of Robert Aske, the
great captain of the "Pilgrimage of Grace," 1536. Sir
Thomas, who was waylaid in every direction by the insurgents,
at last, between force and entreaty, was induced to join them.
For his conduct therein he was hanged, drawn, and quartered
at Tyburn in the month of June, 1537.

The Fenwick Slogan.
6. A Fenwyke ! A Fenwyke !! A Fenwyke !!!

The slogan, or gathering-cry of the clan Fenwick, was
never heard in vain. Many border battle-fields bear witness to

U

126 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

their deadly strife with their Scottish neighbours. The Fen-
wyke, Fenwycke, Fennick, Fenwicke, or as spelt in moderii
days, Fenwick, of Northumberland, were a fierce, resolute, and
warlike band ; and not only sustained the shock of many a
Scottish inroad, but were ever ready to avenge the real or, sup-
posed wrongs of the English by a furious raid into the territories
of the enemy. In the ballad of The Raid of the Meidsivire, we
meet with the following verses on this warlike clan : —

We saw come marching ower the knows,
Five hundred Fenwicks in a flock,
With jack and speir, and bowes all bent,
And warlike weapons at their will.

The House of Percy ever ranked the Fenwicks amongst the
most constant and valiant of its retainers. In border warfare
the banner of the gorged phcenix in the burning flame always
appeared with that of the silver crescent. The ancient character-
istic of the family is that of " The Fierce Fenwicks."
Occasionally we meet with " the Fearless Fenwicks." In the
Battle of the Reidswire —

Proud Wallington (orig.) was wounded sair

Albeit he be a Fenwick fierce.

m * * *

If the amount of pride in the warlike border chieftain did
not extend beyond a moderate modicum of family pride, I can
readily absolve him from so venial an offence, for truly they
were, as the poet sings, —

Rude border chiefs, of mighty fame

And iron soul, who sternly tore
The blossoms from the tree of fame,

And purpled them with tints of gore.

See Gathering Ode of the Fenwick, Local Historians Table
JBooky Legendary Division, voL ii. p. 95.

SLOGANS OF THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. 127

Mottoes of the Family of Fenwick.

1. Toujours Fidele.

2. A Tous Jours Loyal.

3. Virtute Sibi Pr£emium,

4. Perit ut Vivat.

5. A Fenwyke ! A Fenwyke !! A Fenwyke !!!

The original motto of this family is " Perit ut Vivat," a very
pretty pun upon the crest. Sir John de Fenwicke, a warrior in
the martial reign of Henry V., having served his royal master
with great distinction in his French wars, obtained from that
monarch, in recompense, the lordship of Trouble-Ville, in Nor-
mandy, with permission to bear for his motto " A Tous Jours
Loyal," a motto which the family has generally borne ever
since. I have authority for saying that the motto (No. 1,
Toujours Fidele) is repudiated by the head of the family. [The
late Mr. John Fenwick of Newcastle claimed the distinction.]

The Tindall and Jedworth Slogans.

7. A Tindall ! A Tindall !

8. A Jedworth ! A Jedworth !

The Croziers, of Lidd,esdale, had about 1548 slain a
Fenwick, and used him with extraordinary cruelty ; for which,
twenty-seven years after, the Fenwick clan, by the guiding of
John of the Stonehouse, slew several of the Croziers in their
beds. Sir George Heron, Keeper of Tindale and Redesdale,
gave up John to Sir John Carmichael, Deputy-Keeper of
Liddesdale, for which he was dismissed by Sir John Forster,
the English Warden of the Middle Marches, who, contrary to
the usual etiquette, as Carmichael was an inferior, appointed
to meet the latter at Kemelspeth. Carmichael substituted the
Redeswire, and Forster agreed. All went on well till a
Crozier shot at Sir William Fenwicke, or the insatiable appetite

1 28 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

of the Borderers spurred them on ; however, a serious brawl
began, and ended in the complete rout of the English, the
death of Sir George Heron, and capture of Sir John Forster
and others. One account of the commencement of the fray is
very graphic : '' Carmichael then said, ' I am as able to
answere mine office in my chardge as you are yours, and am
of as good an howse as yours.' And to this the Wardein
answered, and said, ' You are not so able as I, for I am the
Queene's IMa't's Wardein of the Marches, and you are but a
Keaper ; ' uppon w'ch wordes and comparison, sondrye lewde
people of the Scotts (as the Lord Wardein and the Englishe
parte do affirme) murmured and saide, ' I saye, comparison^
comparison ! ' and thereupon fell to crye, ' A Jedworth ! a
Jedworth ! ' and after departing thence did beginne the affraye.
But contrarye the Scottes affirme and saye, that sondrye of
the Tynedale men standing nighe the Wardein and Carmichael,
fell sodeinlye uppon the said words, cryed ' A Tyndale, a
Tyndale ! ' running together and shott arrowes amongst the
whole company e." According to another story, the English at
first had the advantage, and " the Tyndall men that had no foed
nor will of blowes fell to spoyle the pedlers ; among others one
of Jedworth being spoyled, cryed ' A Jedworth! A Jed-
worth ! ' "

The ancient Northumberland family of Tindall had the'r
chief seat at Langley Castle, near Haydon Bridge. They had
also lands at Lambley, Wyden, Newcastle, Dilstone, &c., &c. In
old writings they are styled " Barons of Tynedale" and Langley
Castle, temp. Henry 11. (variorum). Motto of the family of
Tindall : " Confido, non confundar."

SLOGANS OF THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. 129

The Shaftoe Slogan {See p, 134).
9. A Shaftoe ! A Shaftoe!!

A Border family of liigh antiquity and distinction. They
were settled at Bavington, in Northumberland, as early as the
reign of Edward L, and are the parent stock from whence
sprung the families of Ben well in Northumberland, and Whit-
worth in the Bishopric of Durham.

No motto is noted in the highest heraldic books, as is the
case with many families of the most undoubted and extreme
antiquity. I may here observe that mottoes, though hereditary,
may be assumed and dropped at pleasure. Originally they were
never borne on the tunic, or other parts of the dress, excepting
in tournaments, nor were they introduced on banners, but
were placed, together with the crest or badge, on pennons or
standards. It has long been usual to insert the motto on a
scroll under the shield, on seals, &c., but the ancient practice
was to inscribe it on a circle surrounding the arms, or on a
ribbon surmounting or emerging from beneath the shield, in
many fantastic quirks. Vide the plates of seals in Surtees's
Durham. The circle was, however, more generally devoted to
the name and rank of the individual wearer.

The Tarset and Tarret Slogan.

10. Tarsetburn ! and Tarretburn I
Yet! Yet!! Yet!!!

The Tarset is a tributary of the North Tyne, and runs
into it about three miles above Bellingham. The Tarret is
a branch of the Tarset. These streams run through very wild
districts, and when the herds and farmer bodies, who inhabit
them, meet at market or fair, and get themselves quickened up

K

130 THE DENHAM TEACTS.

a little over their cups, nothing can be more likely than to still
hear them cry ont in the words preserved in the text.

Note. — This local saying, which is evidently a slughorn,
was communicated to me by my esteemed friend and valued
correspondent, Mr. .James Telfer, of Saughtree School (Lid-
desdaln), near Newcastleton, who, with a wife and two or three
children, declining health, and increasing years, is doomed it
would appear, without the aid of some one who can sympathise
in the extreme poverty of a truly self-taught genius, to drag out
his existence on a yearlj'^ pittance of less than tioenty pounds !
and that, too, wholly arising from the school. Such, too often,
is the fate of those who possess mental power of the highest
order.

[Through the aid of sympathetic friends, and the kind inter-
position of His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, Telfer's
hard circumstances were, I believe, somewhat ameliorated in
his latter years. He died of paralysis, 18th January, 1862.
Besides contributing to various periodicals and local collections,
he was the author of two small volumes. Border Ballads, and
other Miscellaneous Pieces (Jedburgh, 1824; 12mo.); and Tales
and Ballads (London, 1852; 12mo.) The latter includes the
tale of Barbara Gray, which had appeared in a separate shape
many years previously. Telfer's correspondence was most
charming, and well worth preserving. I have a few of his
letters. His fast friend, Mr. Robert White, wrote a sketch of
his life.— J. H.]

The following variorum reading of the above slogan is very
popular under the form of

Up wi' Tarset and Tan-etburn,
And down wi' the Reed and Tyne,

as another of the favourite '' cries " of the natives of those
districts when they chance to be rather excited ; and is, as

SLOGANS OF THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. 131

easily may be supposed, often the occasion of many a broken
head, as the lads of the insulted Tyne and Keed cannot passively
hear their native streams and vales depreciated by those who
dwell on the borders of such insignificant burns as the Tarset
and Tarret without seekins: revense.

Note. — The Tyne here alluded to is the North Tyne.

I find that the cry of "Yet" is still much locally used in
amusements, such as races, cricket matches, &c. &c., " Norton
Yet," and so on, when a sudden turn of fortune occurs.

[" Many will still remember a fine specimen of the North
Tynedale man, Muckle Jock JNIilburn of Bellingham, a man of
gigantic size and strength, and endowed with a corresponding
power of lungs. He told that he remembered more than once
clearing Bellingham Fair with the Tarset and Tarret men at
his back to the old Border cry of —

* Tarset and Tarret Burn

Hard and heatlier-bred,

Yet— yet— yet.'"

Dr. Edw. Charlton's North Tynedale and its Four Graynes.']

The Blazon akd Word of the Northern Counties.

11. Snaffle, Spur, and Spear.

The lands that over Ouse to Berwick forth do bear ;
Have for their blazon had the snaffle, spur, and spear.

Drayton's Polyolbion, Song xxxiii.

William of Deloraine, addressing the lifeless corpse of Richard

the Dark Musgrave, says —

* # « ♦ »

Yet, rest thee God, for well I know,

I ne'er shall find a nobler foe !

In all the Northern Counties here,

Whose word is snaffle, spur, and spear.

Lay of the Last Minstrel, canto v., st. 2?,

k2

132 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

The Tynedale Slogan.
12. Tynedale, to it !

This slogan, used at the battle of the Eedeswire, is
recorded on the following stanza: —

Then raise the slogan with ane shout,

« Fy, Tyndaill, to it ! Jedburgh's here ! "

I trow he was not half sae stout,
But anis his stomach was asteir,
Wi' gun and genzie, bow and speir.

Men might see mony a cracked crown.

The Thirlwall Slogan.
13. A Thirlwall ! A Thirlwall !! A Thirlwall !!!

The war-cry of the Thirlwall, of Thirlwall Castle (now
Philipson) family. It now forms a kind of supplemental motto
in the armorial bearings of that once warlike race, and is worn
above the crest; the real motto, " Fide non fraude," occupying
the scroll below. The Philipsons are a junior branch descended
from Philip Thirlwall.

Thirlwall Castle is still standing, though in a very ruinous
condition, on the site of the Roman wall, upon the banks of the
river Tippal.

The Eokeby Slogan.
14. A Rokeby ! A Rokeby !!

In the old ballad of Chevy Chase there is mentioned
among the English warriors " Sir EafF the ryclie Rugbe,"
which doubtless applies to Sir Ralph de Rokeby, the tenth
baron in the pedigree. Modern copies read :

Good Sir Ralph Raby there was slain,
Whose prowess did surmount.
* * # # #

SLOGANS OF THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. 133

This would rather seem to refer to one of the Nevilles of
Rabj ; but doubtless the wandering minstrel suited himself to
circumstances, and sang " Raby '^ or "Ilokeby" just as ho
found himself seated, whether in the hospitable hall of Raby
or in the equally festive one of Mortham.

" In ye end of Hen. VIII. his raigne, K. Edw. the Sixth,
and Q. Marye's raigne, at Morton (Mortham, near Rokeby),
then lived Thomas Rokeby, Esq., eldest brother and owner of
Morton, a plaine man as might be, whose words came allways
from his heart without feigning, a trustye friend, a forward
gentleman in the field, and a great housekeeper, whereby he
lived soe in the good wills and good hearts of his countrymer
that his Sonne and heire, Cristofer Rokeby, being assaulted at
Gaterley horse race by Cristofer Neville, brother to the mighty
Earle of Westmerland, whom the said earle had sent thither
with a hundreth men to kill him, was both defended and guarded
from the violence of his adversaries, and was able soe to have
rebounded the blowes given him by them, that they sholde have
spilt the best blood in their bodyes if his partye had been willing,
for then not a gentleman in ye field but they cryed ^ A Rokeby ! '
But the good old Thomas, being in co'mission of the peace,
co'maunded and entreated peace, as he said, ' Give [if, although]
itt grieves me to see him bleed that bleeds, yet peace, yet peace,'
and therefore the king loved him that colde soe well get the
love of his countrye." — Whitaker's Richmondshire.

" This event must have taken place in the year 1533, or a
little earlier. Christopher Neville, who thus wanted to stain
his hands in the blood of a Rokeby, himself died childless and
attainted. The Rokeby or Rokesby family continued to be
distinguished until the great Civil War, when, having embraced
the cause of Charles I., they suffered severely by fines and
confiscations. The estate then passed from its ancient owners

134 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

to the family of Robinson, from whom it was purchased by tliat
of Morritt." — Note to Rokehy.
No Rokeby motto noted.

The Berwick and Bulmer Slogans.

15. A Berwick ! A Berwick !!

16. A Bulmer! A Bulmer !!

In the English accounts of the Expedition of the Protector
Somerset against the Scots, these two slogans are said to
have been used by those sections of the earl's army. {See
Patten's Account ^ ?• 76, already quoted.) Berwick is variously
spelt Berwyke.

The Shapton and Fenwick Slogans.

17. A Shafton! and a Fenwick !!

This slogan is used in the ballad of the Raid of ike
Reidswire : —

Then was there nought but bow and speir,

And every man puU'd out a brand ;
' A Shafton and a Fenwick ' thare :
Gude Symington was slain frae hand.
« # * «-

The Neville or Warwick Slogan.
18. A Warwick ! A Warwick !

1469. The rebellion against Edward IV. began at York,
and the Northern men under Sir John Gonycrs, a bishoprick
knight, " a man of suche courage and valiantncss as fewe were
to bee found in his dayes within the North partes," joined the

SLOGANS OF THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. 135

men of Northampton, and won the battle of Banbury field
against Pembroke and his Welshmen.

" But gee the happe, even as the Welchmenne were at poynt
to have obteyned the victorie, John Clappam, Esquier, servaunte
to the Erie of Warwicke, mounted up the syde of the east hill,
accompanyed onely with fyve hundred menne, gathered of the
rascals of the towne of Northampton, and other villages
aboute, havynge borne before them the standert of the Earle
of Warwicke, with the white beare, crying ' A Warwike !
a Warwike ! '

" The Northamptonshire men, with dyvers of the northerne
men, by them procured in this furie, made them a captaine,
called B,obert Hilliard, but they named him Robin of Redesdale
(Robyn of Redesddale in margine), and sodainely came to
Grafton, where they tooke the Earle Rivers, father to the
queene, and hys sonne Sir John Woodvile, whom they
brought to Northamton, and ther beheaded them both without
judgmente."

The events after the battle and confinement of Edward at
Myddleham Castle are matters of history. HoUinshed passes
on to observe that Warwick received the northern men at
Warwick " with greate gladnesse, thanking Sir John Coniers
and other tlieyr capitaynes for theyr paynes taken in hys
cause."

The battle was lost by the Lord Stafibrd's treachery, because
the Earl of Pembroke had put him " out of an inne (in Ban-
burie), wherein he delighted much to be, for the love of a
damoseil that dwelled in the house." However, Edward IV.
speedily took off his head.

The family of Neville are descended from Gilbert de Neville,
a Norman, and companion in arms of William the Conqueror.

136 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Ranulpli de Neville of Eaby was summoned to Parliament as
a baron viii June, mccxciv , and his great-grandson, lia\\)h de
Neville, was created Earl of Westmoreland in Mcccxcvii.
Eichard de Nevilloj was created Earl of Warwick and Salisbury.
John de Neville, Earl of Northumberland and Marquis of
Montagu, was third son of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury.
George, son of John de Neville, Earl of Northumberland,
created Duke of Bedford mcccclxix., was degraded from all his
titles MCCCCLXXYii. Neville, Baron Latimer, was descended
from George, a younger son of Ralph, the first Earl of West-
moreland. From the Nevilles of the bishoprick are descended
the Lords Furnivall, and Earls of Kent, as also is the Aber-
gavenny family. Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and his
two brothers, who formed the most puissant branch of the
family, the makers and dethroners of kings, are commonly
called "the Three Great Brothers.*'

The characteristic of this family is that of the " The Noble
Nevilles." Charles Neville, the sixth and last Earl of West-
moreland, forfeited Raby, and other immense possessions in the
counties of York and Durham, for his share in the Rebellion of
the Earls, A.D. mccccclxx.

Hume, the historian, speaks of the Nevilles as '^ the most
potent, both from their possessions and from the character of the
men, that have ever appeared in England."

Mottoes of the Family op Neville.

1. Moys Droyt, Moys Droyt.

2. Esperaunco me comfort.

3. Ne Vile Yelis.

4. Ne Vile.

Tlie Fanes, Earls of Westmorland, adopted the huirs head of

SLOGANS OF TUE NORTH OF ENGLAND. 137

tlieir ancestors (on tlic spindle side), the Nevilles, for their crest,
and give as their niotto^

Ne Vile Fano,

a very excellent double pun. The device on the standard of the
Nevilles of Raby was that of the dun lull ; on that of the
Earl of Warwick (as before observed) a wldte hear. Ralph,
the great Earl of Westmoreland, gave as his supporters two
greyhounds gorged ; and in the " Rising of the North " tlie
banner of his luckless successor is thus noticed —

Lord Westmoreland his ancyent raisde,

The dun hull he rays'd on hye ;
And tlu'ce dogs with golden collars,

Were there sett out must royallye.

The Mowbray Slogan.

19. Mowbray ! Mowbray ! !

In the year mcccxxxv. the English, led on by Thomas
of Rosslyne and William Mowbray, assaulted Aberdeen. The
former was mortally wounded in the onset, and as his followers
were pressing forward, shouting Rosslyne ! Rosslyne ! '' Cry
Moicbray,'^ said the expiring chieftain, ^^ Rosslyne is gone." —
(Scott's Notes on the Ballad of the Raid of the Reidsioire.)

[Schyr Thomas hwrt was in the kne,
And sone of that hurt deyd he ;
Thai cryide than ' Eoslyne,' bot he can say,
Iioslync is went, ylie tak Mowbray.

Wyntownis Chronicle, p. 19G. Both leaders appear to have becu
Anglicised Scots. Mowbray afterwards joined the patriotic side.]

l38

THE DENHAM TRACTS.

The Heron Slogan.

20. Hastings ! (?)

Evidently, I think and believe, the slogan of the ancient
lords of Ford and Chipchase Castles. The Herons also had a
stronghold at Twizell.

Sir Hugh the Heron bold,

Baron of Twisell, and of Ford,

And Captain of the Hold. — Marmion*

The Herons are an old and honourable north countrie family.
Their arms are : Gules, three herons argent. Crest : A heron,
close proper, holding in the bill a standard- staff, tlie banner
flotant, thereon the word '' Hastings." Motto : Nil despe-
randum.

The Bowes Slogan.

21. A Bowes ! A Bowes !!

On the first September, mdclxxxi , Matthew White, of
Ovington, in the name of William Bowes, of Streatlam Castle,
Esq., by beat of drum, called some twenty people from all parts
to Pearcebridge, and, in their way to the Fishgarth, near
Egglescliffe, about ten more joined them. At Neasham, Mr.
Henry Chaytor, of Croft, and Mr. Killinghall, called for ale,
and drank Esquire Bowes's good health, and gave six shillings
to them to be spent in drink, which they did drink, the drum
beating, and they shouting and hooping '' A Bowes ! A Bowes! "
The end of the '' Fishgarth Eiot " was that these tumultuous
people pulled down the obnoxious dam in the Tees there as far
as they could, but were prevented pulling down the whole for

* There is better authority than this in Raine's North Durham, see
p. 314.— J.H.

SLOGANS OF THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. 139

height of water. White had premised io pay their charges, and
that Mr. Bowes would accompany them, but neitlier engage-
ment was performed. See documents in full in Surtees's
Hist. Durham, vol. iii. sub. tit. " Fishgarth." In the next year,
a proper judgment was obtained against the dam as a common
nuisance, and it was pulled down to the half water {i.e. I sup-
pose, mid-way across the channel), as far as concerned the
county of Durham. Sir William Bowes came with a posse
comitatus when it was pulled down. — Note in Mr. KillinghalFs
handwriting, penes K. H. Allan, of Blackwell Hall, Esq., F.S.A.
The company were armed with guns, pistols, swords, and
various other offensive weapons. The " Fishgarth Eiot '"* was
probably the last instance in which a slogan was publicly used.
Motto of the family above the crest :

Sans Variance et Men Droit.

Motto bsneath the shield :

In Multis, In Magnis, In Bonis, Expertus.

The Stanley Slogan.

22. Stanley ! Stanley !!

This war-cry was raised, at the battle of Flodden Field, by
the followers of the banner of the *' Stout Stanley," upon which
was the traditional device of the eagle and swaddled cliylde.
The warriors under Loi'd Edward Stanley were chiefly, if not
wholly, the '* Lively Wights " of Lancashire, and the " Chosen
Mates" [orig.) of Cheshire. When the Earl of Surrey was
sore pressed by the enemy, and victory was inclining to the
Scots, this gallant warrior, and his equally valiant countrymen,
pressed forward to his assistance.

■X- :ic He 4:

140 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

And "Stanley stout" tliey all did cry ;
Out went anon the grey goose wing,
And mongst the Scots did flickering fly.

Although the Scots at Stanley's name
Were 'stonisht sore, yet stout they stood ;

Yet for defence they fiercely frame,
And arrows' dint with danger bode.*

The impetuosity of this attack turned the fortunes of the day ;
and although the Scots '' behaved right bravely," they were,
notwithstanding their gallant conduct, obliged to give way, but
not till their monarch, twelve e. e. thirteen lords, upwards of
fifty men of note, and from ten to twelve thousand common
fighting-men, lay dead upon that fatal field. This battle was
fought 9th September, 151b, and continued between three and
four hours.

* Weber's edition of Floddon Field, p. 114.

IV.

A COLLECTION OF CUMBERLAND RHYMES,

PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS IN CONNECTION WITH

THE BORDER AND FEUDAL PERIODS.

The good old rule sufficed then,

The plain and simple plan,
That they should catch -who had the power,

And they should keep who can.

" Hang the Fellow ! " quoth Lord William Howard ;
or, according to the version of Sir Walter Scott (^Border Ant.)^

" Hang them in the Devil's name."
Lord William How^ard, of Nawortli Castle, was appointed
Warden of the Borders by Queen Elizabeth.* This nobleman was
much attached to letters, and to interrupt those hours of study
was an offence cautiously avoided by the domestics, particularly
as one intrusion had been attended with fatal consequences.

His lordship w-as one day engaged with his schoolmen and
fathers, when a retainer, who had captured an unfortunate Scots
moss-trooper, burst into the apartment to acquaint his master
with the circumstance, and inquij-e what should be done with
the captive. " Hang the Fellow ! " said Lord William peevishly,
an expression intended to convey no other meaning than dis-
pleasure at the intruder. The servant, however, accustomed to
the most perfect obedience, immediately construed the pas-
sionate expression into a command ; a few" hours afterwards,
when his lordship directed the fellow to be brought before him
for examination, he heard that in compliance with his order the
man had been hanged !

* He never was Lord Warden. See Canon Ornsby's Introduction
to Lord William Howard's Household Books (Surtees Society), pp. 21
to 30, for contradiction of many of the popular misstatements which
had received the sanction of Sir Walter Scott. — J. H.

142 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

The place of execution was in a grove of oaks near the castle,
and tliere many a Border marauder, both Scots and English,
struggled his last.

One historian, when relating the above incident, ascribes it
to one of the Carnaby's, of Halton ; but we have no authentic
account of any of the Carnaby family having ever filled the
office of Warden of the Marches. < .

Belted Will Howard, or Bauld, i.e. Bold, Willie.

His Bilboa blade, by marchmen felt,
Hung in a broad and studded belt ;
Hence in rude phrase the Borderers still
Call noble Howard " Belted Will."

Imt/ of the Last Mtns., Cant. 5, st. xvi.

Fuller says, " When in their greatest height, they (the moss-
troopers) had two great enemies, the laws of the land and Lord
Will. Howard of Na worth." Worthies of England, p. 216.

Mr. Howard, author of the History of the Howard Family,
p. lix., supposes that his noble relative and ancestor may have
derived the characteristic from the fact of his being in the habit
of wearing the Baldrick or Broad Belt, which was formerly
worn as a distinguishing badge of persons in high stations.

Even at the present day the dungeons at Naworth Castle
still instil horror. They consist of four dark apartments, three
beloAv and one above, up a long staircase, all well secured. In
the uppermost is one ring to which criminals were chained, and
marks remain where many more have been. In fact they are
such places as,

To lie in them one night, 'tis guessed,
'Twere better to be ston'd and press'd
Or hang'd ....

Browne,

I may here remark, that Bauld Willie kept 140 men at

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 143

Naworth Castle as his general guard. I suppose this would
include all the adult male servitors of the castle.

Lord William Howard, it is said, died of the plague at
Naworth, and not at Graystoke, as stated by Hutchinson,
1640, aged 77 years. His remains are supposed to rest in the
old parish church at Brampton. This church is now in ruins.*

" In the drama of life," the Howards, says an eloquent
writer, " have exhibited every variety of character, good and
bad, and the tales of their vices, as well as of their virtues, are
full of instruction, and anxious sympathy, or indignant censure.
No story of romance, or tragic drama, can exhibit more incidents
to enhance attention or move the heart, than would a compre-
hensive account of this house, written with eloquence and
patience."

The first peerage obtained by the Howards occurs in the year
1470. This family are the representatives of the illustrious
families of Warrenne, Mowbray, and Fitz-Allan.

Bessie with the Broad Apron.

This familiar epithet was applied to Elizabeth, the daughter
of Lord Dacre and wife of the above-named Belted Will
Howard, whose broad lands swelled the fortunes of this younger
brother, the progenitor of the families of Carlisle and Corby.
This noble lady died at the good old age of 75.

The Lord of Dacres

Was slain in the North Acres.

Lord Dacre was a Cumberland noble. North Acres, the
name of a field near Towton. At Towton, a small village about
two and a half miles from Tadcaster, was fought a bloody battle

* Canon Ornsby, in his Introduction to the Household Books of
Lord William Howard, published by the Surtees Society, p. Ixiv.,
has satisfactorily shown that Lord William died at Greystock Castle
either on or about October 7th, 1640, not of the plague, but from
natural decay, and that he was buried in Greystock Church. — J. H.

144 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

which commenced on the morning of Pahn Sunday (29 March),
1461, between the houses of York and Lancaster. History-
records that thirty-six thousand were killed on the field and
only one prisoner taken, viz., the Earl of Devonshire. The
Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland were amongst the
slain. Lords Westmoreland and Dacre were interred at Saxton,
the first without any distinguishable memorial. Leland says
that Lord Dacre has " a meane tomb " there. From the mention
of Hen. VI. in the epitaph, Whitaker surmises that it was not
erected till after the demise of Edw. IV. A low stone wall,
about twenty inches from the ground, covered with a plain
stone, forms the warrior's tomb. It is broken across the centre
and divided into two parts, and is unprotected by any palisade
or railing. The inscription is in Latin, in large old English
letters, cut round the border of the flat stone. Enough remains
to verify the tomb. Glover, who visited Towton Field 124
years after the battle, was told that Lord Dacre, while in the
act of drinking, was slain by a boy, who had secreted himself in
an elder tree, at North Acre, in revenge for the death of his
father, whom his lordship had killed with his own hand.

Through the field of Towton runs a small brook of the name
of Cock ; of which tradition records that it was choked up with
the dead bodies of the Lancastrian party, and that it ran with
blood for three whole days. This battle is the last historical
fact recorded by Caxton in his Chronicle. He was a con-
temporary.

The name of Dacre is supposed to be derived from the
exploits of one of the ancestors of the family at the siege of
Acre, temp. Rich. Coeur de Lion.

The Hot Dacre.

A chieftain of the branch of " the I'd Dacres of the North "
{i.e.f the Gilsland branch) was Warden of the Marches during

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 145

the reign of Edward VI. He was a man of hot and obstinate
character, as appears from some particulars given by Sir Walter
Scott, in his Mins. Scot. Border, Appendix to the Introduction.
The Dacre Castle branch were called " Lord Dacres of the South."
The Earl of Surrey in a letter to Henry YIII. says, " There is
noo herdyer nor bettir knyght, but often tyme he doth not use
the most sure order," as he found to his great cost at the
storming of Jedburgh, "where he lost viii. c. horses, and all
with folly for lak of not lying within the campe."

Sir Walter Scott, in his Lay of the Last Minst. 4 cant. st.
xvii. records that a tune of the name of " Noble Lord Dacre, he
dwells on the Border," was played by the minstrels " as they
marched in order to the Border Wars " [It will require
some other authority than a romance for the supposed tune.]

King of Patterdale.

Patterdale or Patrick's Dale, takes its name from the
baptisms of that saint, purported to have been performed at a
fount still preserved by the road-side. It is a poor little village,
in which, however, if there be little to admire, there is nothing
to offend.

The annals of the Royal House cf Patterdale are simply
these: On some sudden emergency in the time of a Scottish
irruption upon the northern counties, so frequently occurring in
the history of our early reigns, a chief was wanted to embody
and command the shepherds of the dale. In this dilemma,
an enterprising peasant of the name of Mounsey boldly
volunteered his services as the leader of his countrymen. His
offer was accepted ; and such was the vigilance and precision
with which his warlike genius inspired him, that he succeeded
in effectuating a total rout of the invading army. He was
accordingly crowned amid the acclamations of the victors and

L

146 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

proclaimed king of Patterdale. The succession was of course
hereditary, and for some generations the monarch received the
more substantial homage of his subjects. Tlie family has risen
by honourable industry to a state of comparative opulence ; but
the regal title and claims are only chronicled in the memories
of the ancient inhabitants of the beautiful vale. The ancient
mansion of this family is still known by the preeminent name
of Patterdale Palace. Mr. Mounsey, king of Patterdale, sold
his regal residence in the early part of the present century.
His present mansion is Goldrigg Cottage, two miles further up
the dale.

The family of Mounsey of Patterdale have enjoyed tliis title
time out of mind, and the junior branches princes and
princesses. The king, who died on the 15th October, 1793,
aged 92, was a remarkably eccentric being. Though possessed
of an income of £300 a year, he was so penurious that if he had
to transact any business abroad he used to call on a friend and
borrow his clothes. His own dress " consisted of a heap of rags
and patches, his stocking heels were made of leather, and he
wore clogs heavily shod with iron." He left property worth
£1,000 a year. — Newcastle Magazine, 1825, pp. 524, 52o.

Bide Rowley, the Hough's i' the Pot.

A MS. quoted in the Hist. Cumb., p. 466, concerning the
Graemes of Netherby, and others of that clan, runs thus : —
They were all stark moss-troopers and arrant thieves, both to
England and Scotland outlawed ; yet sometimes connived at,
because they gave intelligence forth of Scotland, and could raise
400 men at any time, upon a raid of the English into Scotland.
This saying, which is recorded of a Graeme mother to her son,
Rowland, is now become proverbial. It inferred that the last
piece of beef was in the pot, and therefore it was full time to go
in quest of more.

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 147

The Sun shines fair on Carlisle Wall,

This line forms the overture of the song Albert Graeme, Lay
Last Mlns.^ cant. 6, stanza xi. It also forms the burden cf an
ancient Scottish song beginning thus : —

She leaned her back against a thorn,
The sun shines fair on Carlisle wa';

And there she has her young babe bom,
And the lyon shall be lord of a'.

Perhaps the saying (if it be one) may infer that the sun in his
diurnal journey does not shine on a fairer city than " Canny
Carlisle." [An old epithet of the town is " Merry Carlisle."]

To SING NECK-VEKSE AT HaRRABY.

The neck- verse was the last verse in the Miserere, a psalm *
sung at executions. Harraby Hill is about a mile from Carlisle
on the Penrith Road, with the River Petterell running under it,
and was formerly the place of execution. It was at this place
those suffered who were taken and tried at Carlisle for their
connection with the rebellion of 1745. Two heads were still
remaining on the English gate, at Carlisle, in the year 1766.
One of these was the unfortunate Major MacDonald.

Black Tom of the North.

The church of Cammerton, a small village on the Derwent,
near Workington, contains an ancient effigy in armour of a
renowned warrior, who in popular tradition is called Black Tom
of the North ; but who this Black Tom was even tradition
itself cannot tell. He is however said to have lived at the old

* That is the LI. Psalm, and it used anciently to be read by
criminals claiming benefit of clergy.

l2

148 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

castle at Seaton, where I find one Ketel settled at a very remote

period.

Now if this Maister Ketel

Had a sonne he called Pann,
I thynke yt very lykely,

Black Tom wolde be the mann !

The man was ne'er so wight nor gued.
But worthy Wallace durst him byde ;

Nor never horse so wild nor weud

But David Bregham durst him ryds.

The manor of Ulldale y/as forfeited by David Bregham, to
the Lucys lords of Allerdale, for joining the Scotch patriotic
army, commanded by Sir William Wallace, who was no less
famous for his feats of arms than his English compatriot for
his horsemanship. '' Whereupon," the chroniclers say, '' The
Scots thus rhymed on them."

A Harden Sark, a Guise Grassing, and a Whittle Gait.

Two or three centuries ago (and even less), these were all
the stipend of a Cumberland clergyman. The above, v.diicli
has become a proverb, means, in other words, that his entire
salary consisted of a coarse linen shirt, the right of depasturing
his geese upon the moor or common, and the still more valuable
privilege of using a knife and fork (? the latter) and trencher at
the table of his parishioners, free of all costs and charges. This
privilege is now claimed by some of the rural schoolmasters.

The Cattle of Cumberland are as good as those of
Teviotdale.

This proverbial saying, used either thus or inversely, origi-
nated with, and was often made use of, by the freebooting gentry
of England and Scotland, resident upon the Debateable Lands
of the Borders, It is quoted by Sir Walter Scott, Lay of the
Last Minst., see note to cant. L

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 149

[It can scarcely be said to be quoted by Sir Walter Scott, as
his statement is the original of it.]

The Capon Tree.*
The proverbial name given to an ancient oak situate near
Brampton. It obtained its name from the judges being for-
merly met here by javelin-men, well armed and mounted, from
Carlisle, who, in addition to the armour on their backs, were
further loaded with a goodly number of cold capons ; and here,
under the spreading branches of this once stately tree, did the
learned judges and their body-guard partake of [what would
then be regarded as a great dainty] .

Carlisle ; where the officer always does his work by daylight.
Carlisle was celebrated for its numerous executions, especially
for those performed upon the poor but offending Borderers,
both before and after the union. To this chief place of "blood-
offering," the Lord Warden of the West Marches, generally sent
his victims, not wishing to incur the responsibility of performing
that office at Naworth or elsewhere. The officer was hangman.

* Six of the prisoners condemned to suffer in the insurrection of
174G were in October executed, not at Carlisle, but at Brampton.
Those six were Col. James Innes, Peter Lindsay, Eonald Macdonald,
Thomas Park, Peter Taylor, and Michael Deland (Mounsey's Carlisle
in 1745, p. 268). Tradition says they were hanged on the capon
tree, which for many years afterwards was supposed to be haunted.
It was even believed, says the writer of a local tale called " The
Tragedy of the Capon Tree," that " on the anniversary of the day of
execution the spirits of the rebels weie to be seen flitting about with
airy ropes round their necks. They have now, with the generation
which stood in awe uf them, flitted altogether away ; and the once
famous oak which they haunted is itself a tiling of the past, nothing
now remaining of it but its stump." — Eev. H. Whitehead on
" Brampton in 1745," in Transactions of Cumberland and Westmore-
land Association for the Advancement of Literature and Science,
1886-7. pp. 64-5.— J.H.

150 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

A Bewcastler, or Bewcastle Man.

The above phrase is synonymous with that of rogue, reiver,
or thief.

In the list of Border thieves made in the year 1552, William
Patrick, the pi-iest, and John Nelson, the curate of Bewcastle,
are both included. This parish was for ages the receptacle of
desperadoes who were outlawed both by England and Scot-
land, and continued their ferocious and nefarious practices,
long after the ascension of King James, which in a great
measure put a stop to the depredations made by the banditti on
the borders. Till within a century, the name of a Bewcastle
man carried with it a strong degree of terror, not only to the
young but also to the old. Since that time, however, they
have become as moral, honest, and industrious as their more
favoured neighbours, with whom they have a more easy inter-
course by the formation of new roads, and the improvement of
old ones. Aspersions are still cast upon them, as horse
dealers; a calling in which some of tlie inhabitants indulge
freely, and, I doubt not, with as much honesty and honour as
the generality of those who practice the same trade.

Cumberland, the Back Door into Scotland.

So is Cumberland termed by our early writers ; as also is
Northumberland called the Fore Door.

Carlisle, the Key of England on the West Sea.

The same is spoken of Berwick on the East Sea. Both these
towns were strongly fortified; and to the East and West
Marches, they were places of arms and rallying points.

Batablers.

Inhabitants of the Debateable Lands were so called; of whom
the Gremes, Greames, or Grahams ; the Nicksons, Nixons,
Niksons, Nexona, or Nyksons, and the Crossers, or Croziers, or

CUMBERLAND EHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 151

Crozers, were the chief. The Debateable Lands were also
called Threap Lands. The manner of these "Johnny Arm-
strongs " was to steal in Scotland and sell in England, or vice
versa, just as was convenient to them. They have even been
known to carry the produce of one of these forays to London
for disposal.

King James VI. of Scotland had a favourite cow, which he
brought from " his ain kintry " when he acceded to the English
crown ; but she, having no taste for English manners and
customs, silently retreated without even a farewell to her royal
master, the monarch of fom' kingdoms. (Note, that it is re-
corded that this cow was the only personage in his numerous
retinue that ever returned to Scotland.) When the courtiers
expressed their surprise how she could find her way, as she
could speak neither English nor Scotch ; the king replied " that
that did not excite his wonder so much as how she could get
across the Debateable Ground without being stolen ! "

The Raid, or Scotch axd English.

This game is practised in the north by the schoolboys, who
evidently have derived the traditional impression from former
scenes, and keep up the remembrance of the good old times, by
this Border play. The lads of a village or school divide them-
selves into two parties, the one Scotch and the other English, when
they choose two captains out of their united body, each nominat-
ing one alternately. The two parties then strip off their hats,
neckerchiefs, coats, and vests, and deposit their clothes (called
wads,* from the old word weed) in two heaps, each upon
their own ground, which is divided from that of their
opponents by a stone, as a boundary mark between the two
opposing kingdoms. Each then invades the others' territory
with allthe care that can be used, the English crying, " Here's

* Wad signifies a pledge ; A S,, wed.

152 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

a leap into thy kingdom, dry-bellied Scot;" and the Scotch

also crying * They who can, j)lunder the opposite

party. If one is caught in the enemies' ground he becomes
a prisoner, and cannot be released except by his own party.
Thus one side will occasionally take all the men and property
of the other. See Brockett's Glossary of North Country Words,
Arts. " Scotch and English," and " Stealing Clothes."

Nag and Foot Tenements.

This was a sort of military tenure, by which the holders of a
plot of ten or twelve acres of land were bound whenever called
upon by their superior lord tp follow him either on nag or foot
as need or occasion might be, at least forty days in one year.

A Bastle, or Bastile House.

It is also spelled Bastill and Bastell. These buildings were
likewise called Barnkins and also Peel Houses. These fortified
dwellings, or Border strongholds, were a sort of castle, town, or
keep, to which was attached an outer fortification, within which
the cattle of the vicinage were driven upon any sudden alarm
as a place of safety. There were great numbers of these
buildings on the English and Scottish Borders, through the
entire line of the marches ; and ruins of a great many still exist.
Even as far south as Mortham Tower, near Rokeby, Yorkshire,
we have an exact specimen of one of these Border fortalices,
with its watchfold, still pretty perfect. " These petty fortresses
usually consisted of a square tower, of two or three stories, with

* In a letter Mr. Denham says : " It has been suggested to me by
a clever literary Scot, that your Scots' cry might be, ' Here's a leap
into thy kingdom thou gorbellied Southron ! ' Tlie idea is very
characteristic, and shall appear in print." August 21, 1852. The
Scots' saying was, " Set your feet on Scots' ground, English, if ye
daur." — Chambers' Pop. Rhymes, p. 128. — J. H.

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 153

walls of great thickness; the chambers on the ground floor
vaulted with stone, and the entrance thoroughly barricaded with
an iron-grated door, was used to secure the cattle by night."
See Brockett's Glossary of North Country Words, art. Peel,
vol. ii., p. Q9.

I may say that every castle, in the North of England at
least, had adjoining to it a village inhabited by the retainers or
clansmen of the lord of the estate, who were ever ready upon
the summons of their superior to issue from their mud dwelling
with their bow and well plenished quivers, targets, and swords ;
and if need be with firebands, to fight the battle of the lord of
the castle ; no matter whether right or wrong. After the
union of the two kingdoms, when the services of these kindly
tenants and rentallers were no longer useful, thousands of these
miserably poor creatures were evicted by brute force, and
their humble dwellings were levelled with the earth. This
depopulation of the north, especially " by the hard, unnatural,
uncharitable, and unchristian dealings of landlords '' was a
heavy curse in the land for a long series of years, as may easily
be supposed, when the only alternative which the unhappy
creatures had was begging or stealing, as the opportunitv
offered itself, till they made an end of their life by an untimely
death. I can readily enumerate upwards of twenty hamlets
and villages in my own immediate neighbourhood, which with
the exception of the foundation walls, which are buried in the
earth, have nearly or totally disappeared from the face of God's
ground. The names of a few follow : —

Ulnaby.

Wycliffe.

Streatlem.

Walworth.

Marwood.

Barford near Streatlem.

Thornton.

Rokeby.

Dalton within Streatlem Park.

Cliffe.

Mortham.

Raby.

Barford.

Thorpe.

Seilaby.

154 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Kneeton.

Tutta or

Keverstone

Brettonby.

Tuddah.

Snotterton.

Stanwick.

Westvvick.

Osmondcroft.

Newton.

Sledwich.

Alwent.

Girlino-ton.

Humbleton.

Dyance, &c.,

A great number of villages in the north which even still
exist are left mere shadows of their former selves.

The payment of a money rent was totally unknown on the
Scottish Borders at least, until James VI. of Scotland ascended
the English throne.

Blood, Slough, or Sleuth Hound.

The breed of this sagacious animal was used at an early
period in the pursuit and detection of marauders, whose foot-
steps it would trace with the most unerring accuracy, and a
Borderer, either Scots or English, was entitled, if his dog
could track the scent or footsteps, to follow the invader into
the opposite kingdom, a privilege which often occasioned a
great deal of bloodshed. So late as 1616 there was an order
from the king's Commissioners of the Northern CWnties, that a
certain number of sloughhounds should be maintained on the
English Border. Nine of these dogs were kept at the charge of
the people of Cumberland, and stationed at the following places
bordering upon Scotland, viz. : one at the foot of Sark ; one at
the moat within Sark ; one at the Bailie-head, near Arthuret ;
one at Tinkler Hill ; one at Stapleton ; one at Irthington ; one
at Lanereost ; one at Kirklington ; and one at Kawcliffe. See
Button's Tour to the Roman Wall, pp. 82-83, London, 1813.

It is said that the Annandale mosstroopers or freebooters
made no bones of eating human flesh, and this I can readily
believe, not only of them but also of others. In fact, we have
several instances of their having done so, recorded in the

I

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 155

memoirs of those times, and well authenticated. Witness
Lord SouHs, a Scottish nobleman of royal descent, who had
his residence at Hermitage Castle. Soulis, in consequence of
a peevish remark rather than a command from his sovereign,
was suddenly seized upon by his enemies and boil'd alive in
an immense cauldron at the Nine Stane Rigg. When his body
was thoroughly sodden each of the perpetrators partook of the
broo : and if this be true, which is not only supported by current
tradition but sober history, need we doubt that they would
hesitate to eat the flesh of their victim also !

This cauldron it is said was long preserved at Skelf Hill, a
hamlet between Hawick and Hermitage in Liddesdale ; but
I am jealous that the " muckle-pot " which is there shown to
the curious, is nothing more than a modern affair, probably left
there by the Highlanders in the '45.

Dagger Money.

This custom still continues of each of the judges on leaving
Newcastle having given to him by the mayor a bond fide broad
Jacobus, to purchase a dagger for his defence during his journey
across the English border to the city of merry Carlisle.

See l^orth''s Life of Lord Keeper Guildford [temp. Car. IL] i.
287, from whence I infer that the more ancient offering which
which was even then presented to the judges by the sheriff" of
Northumberland, was a " dagger, knife, penknife, and fork all
together."

Deadly Feud or Feides.

A fostered or rather festered animosity and contention existed
between the various tribes of the wild Cumberlanders, which
also extended itself in an equal degree over the more favoured
county of Northumberland. These deep-rooted and inveterate

156 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

i.ostilities that were inherited from a resolute, restless, and
vindictive ancestry, were long and fiercely prosecuted, even
down to a comparatively recent period of time. The details of
these clannish wars afford a horrid picture of the state of society
on the Borders of both kingdoms, as regards the habits, manners,
and morals of the people ; the authority of the Crown was totally
disregarded, and club law universally prevailed. Grey in his
Chorographia sketches a most sanguinary picture. He says :
" If any two be displeased, they expect no lawe but bang it out
bravely, one and his kindred against the other and his ; they
will subject themselves to no justice, but in an inhuman and
barbarous manner fight and kill one another ; they run together
in clangs (clans) as they terme it, or names. This fighting
they call their feids or deadly feides."

The Borders have become the Middle of my Kingdom.

The pleasant conceit of King James YI. and I., when he
succeeded to the throne of England. And yet it was not only
not at the moment of the king passing the Borders, but a
considerable further length of time had to pass over of robbery,
arson, and murder, in this unhappy country, before the in-
habitants thereof could be induced to sit down contentedly in
peace and order, and be satisfied with their own. At the very
moment of the king's accession, or rather of his taking pos-
session of the Crown of England, a body of some two or three
hundred marauders, belonging to the West Marches, committed
grievous robberies and riots, spreading their ravages as far as
Penrith.

All praise and thanksgiving be given to Belted Will Howard
for quelling the Borderers, and uprooting, as it were, the last
seeds of deadly strife and contention !

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 157

A Muffled Man.

This was a disguised person, who was made use of on the
Borders of England and Scotland in cases o^ foray and invasion.
The Miifled Man was not only unknown to the enemy but
even to his own friends, with the exception of the chief of the
invading party ; and the disguise was a necessary precaution
for the guide's safety, for, had he been known, it would,
beyond all doubt, have been the ready means of costing him
his life at the hands of his enemy, although at a period ever
so distant.

Red Hand or Bloody Hand.

A Borderer caught in the act and fact of committing a
robbery, or in the act of carrying or driving away the stolen
property, was said to be taken in the manner, with the Bloody
or Red Hand, as it was called, and was generally doomed to
the summary punishment of suspension upon the nearest tree,
which contained a limb strong enough to bear the weight of
the luckless freebooter.

Carey's Raid.

The spirit-stirring particulars of this English raid are
minutely recorded by Sir Robert Carey, the warden of the
West Marches, in his Memoirs, p. 151 &c., and it may also
be met with in Scott's Border Minst. vol. i. , introduction to the
ballad of " Johnnie Armstrong." One anecdote in connection
with this celebrated raid is, howev^er, so extremely characteristic
of the Scots freebooters, that it must on no account be over-
looked. The '' Liddlesdale loons" have a tradition that while
Sir Robert was besieging the outlawed Armstrongs in the bogs
and forests on the Tarras, his enemies contrived, by ways and
means known to themselves alone, to send a party into England,

158 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

■vvlio plundered the warden's lands. On their return from
one of these " raids " they exercised their Christian charity by
sending Carey one of his own cows, telling him that, fearing
he might fall short of provisions while lying in the waste,
during his Scottish visit, they had sent him a carcase of English
beef!

RARE AND POPULAR RHYMES, PROVERBS, SAYINGS,
PROPHECIES, &c., &c., RELATING TO CERTAIN
MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS IN THE COUNTY OF
CUMBERLAND.

The Cocker and the Calder,

Dutton and the Derwent,

Eden and the Ellen,

Eamont and the Esk,

Greta and the Gelt,

Leven and the Liddal,

Irving and the Irt,

Mite and Peterill (o?- Petterell),
The Waver and Wampool.

A collection of the names of the principal rivers and streams
in this county, singular for its alliteration as well as alphabetical
arrangement.

Skiddaw*, Lauvellinf , and Casticand|,

Are the highest hills in all England. — (Ray.)

On the summits of the mountains in the neighbourhood of St.

* The perpendicular height of this hill above the level of the sea at
low water is 3,022 feet.

f The perpendicular height of Lauvellin is 3,055 feet above the
level of the sea. Lauvellin is the same with Helvellyn.

I The same with Catchedecam, which see below.

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 159

Bees were '' many wild cats, foxes, and martins, with some
eagles ^' almost within the memory of man.

Cauld Cornwood, where the Devil wadn't bring his mother,
But carried her up to High Crossfell, where the snow ligs baith
winter and summer.*

Cornwood is a small cultivated patch of country amongst the
high moors near Alston. Its bleak situation, weeping climate,
and barren soil, have rendered it a subject of ridicule to the
more comfortably located inhabitants of the Vale of Tyne ; and,
as in former days the inhabitants of different districts in the
Border Counties were anything but good neighbours [excepting
in cases of Scottish foray] , conflicts between such parties were
not unfrequent. Crossfell, which according to the rhyme his
infernal majesty preferred to the former, is a neighbouring
mountain in Cumberland, a part of the Helvellyn range — wide,
forlorn, and desolate.

An old shepherd used to assert that previous to the hot
summer of 1826, seven years snow was lying on the summit of
Crossfell ; proveable from the fact that a thorn-bush near the
place had shed the leaves of seven summers, which were
separated by the snow of seven winters! This mountain is
estimated at 20 miles in circumference, and 2,901 feet above
the level of the sea.

Scawfellf, and BowfellJ, and Catchedecain§,
Are the three heest moontains 'at iwer man clam.

The genuine Cumbrian version of the above rhyme.

* This saying was communicated by William Pattison. Mr.
Denham when mentioning this in a letter says : " I valued him as a
correspondent, and he contributed to my gatherings no little."

t 3,160 feet. f 2,911 feet in height.

§ Forms the crest of Swirrel Edge.

160 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

When Gelt puts on his Night-cap 'tis sure to rain !

Gelt or the Barn House Fell, is the last peak of the Helvellyn
mountains. When a thick fog or mist gathers around the
summit of this mountain on a morning, the old farmers shake
their blanched heads and exclaim, " Ah, Gelt has got on his
night-cap, 'tis sure to rain ! "

If Skiddaw hath a cap,

Scruff ell (*) wots full well of that.

Two very high hills, one in this country, the other in Annan-
dale in Scotland. If the former be capped with clouds or foggy
mists, it will not be long before rain falls on the other. * It is
spoken of such who may expect to sympathize in their sufferings,
by reason of the vicinity of their situation. When Scotland, in
the last century, felt its allegiance to England doubtful, and the
French sent an expedition there, this saying was revived, to
shew the identity of interest between the two nations.

" There tow'ring Skiddaw wrapp'd in awful shade.
Monarch of mountains, rears his mighty head,
Dark'nhig with frowns fair Keswick's beauteous vale,
He views beneath the gath'ring tempests sail ;
Secure nor heeds the rolling thunders rage,
Though Scrnffell trembling marks the dire presage."

Mr. Thoresby, in his Diary, vol. i, 270-1, after quoting the
above proverb, gives the following passing notice : — " 21 Sept.
1694. Morning. Eastward we had the noted Skiddaw Hill
on our right hand, Parnassus-like, which seems to emulate
Scruffoll Hill."

Turn tua res agitur paries cum proximus ardet.
* 3,100 feet above the sea.

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 161

Inscribed Stone.

Tarn me over and I'll tell 3'oa plain.

The above verse (in the adjacent counties) is traditionally
said to be inscribed on a laroje block of stone on one of the
mountains in Cumberland, and, it is said, is often the means of
inducing unwary travellers to put forth an extra degree of
strength in order to accomplish the injunction, which deed, if
attended with success, they then read :

Hot broth macks hard crusts soft :
Turn me over again.

Roby in his Traditions of Lancashire mentions a stone of
this class, which once existed near Hoghton Tower, not far
from Preston. See vol. ii, p. 175, where a story of the " wisest
of earthly monarchs " in connection with the said stone is well
told. [Alas! Poor Roby ! !].

The version in the south of Scotland is, " Turn me o'er, and
ril tell you more" ; and when this is done one may read on
what had been the under surface of the stone : " Turn me o'er
again."

Eidstow Pike, Casticam, Helvellyn, and

Skiddaw Man,*

Ai*e the highest hills ever dumb by an Englishman.

This proverb is quoted by Camden. [Not in Gibson's edition.]

A Morlan fluid
Never did guid.

Morlan or Marian (evidently a corruption of Magdalene)

* Upon the highest part of Skiddaw there is a little peak which
bears this name.

M

162 THE DENHAM TKACTS.

Fair, the second of the three Keswick Fairs, is held on the
second day of August, Magdalene's day, 0. S.

Floods are not uncommon about this period of the year, and
are by no means valued.

The yellerisli cries of Gelt Brigg tell
The sufferings of Duke Will in Hell !

At Gelt Bridge a number of the followers of Bonnie Prince
Charlie were most barbarously murdered by having their
entrails taken out whilst alive and burnt. The country people
say that at midnight the fearful cries of their murderers are
still to be heard. Tradition also points out the spot where these
brutal and bloody acts are said to have taken place upon the
poor misguided and unfortunate followers of the ill-fated prince.

Yellerish — the same with our Bishopbrigg word, yollering —
i.e.y making a noise similar to dogs under chastisement.

The Cumberlanders speak of Duke William in terms equal,
or nearly so, with our more northern neighbours, the Scots.
The common epithet, when speaking of his royal highness, is
that of butcher. A stanza of a Scottish traditional sono; is so
apposite to the textual rhyme that I transcribe it here : —

" The deil sat girning in a nuke,
Breaking sticks to burn the Duke ;
All the Whigs shall gae to hell,
And Geordie sail gae there hisscll."

Caldbeck and Caldbeck Fells,
Are worth all England else.

The parish of Caldbeck was at one period extremely rich in
mines of lead and copper, and a great variety of other minerals
useful only for the cabinets of the curious. In the lliver Caldew

CUMBERLAND EHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 163

an emerald was found in 1815. A loose sj^eclmen of lead ore
was discovered on Nether row- brow^ which yielded silver in the
proportion of 600 ozs. per ton. At Carrock there was formerly
a very rich mine of copper. Many years ago a family lived in
a hut on one of the fells in this parish, and coined silver money
from the produce of the old mine called Silver Gill till they
were discovered and forced to abscond.

BoTHEL Spring ran with blood on the day of King Charles's

Martyrdom.

A singular item in the popular creed of the common people
in the parish of Torpenhow, in this county.

Woe to this Bank !

Woto-Bank, in the parish of St. John, near Beckermet, or
Beckermont, is said to have obtained its name from the following
traditional story, which still holds its place among the legendary
tales of the neighbourhood : — It is that, once upon a time, a
lord of Beckermet, and his lady and servants, were hunting the
wolf in their adjacent domains ; during the lengthened chase
the lord missed his lady ; when, after a long and painful search,
they at last found the remains of her body lying on this bank
slain by a wolf; and the ravenous beast in the very act of
tearing it to pieces, till frightened away by the dogs. In the
first transport of his grief the words that the horror-stricken
husband first uttered were, " Woe to this bank ! " since vulgarly
called Woto-Bank. This brief legend is the groundwork of
Mrs. Cowley's poem oi Edwina, 1794: —

" For faithful lads ne'er pass, nor tender maid,
But the soft rite of tears is duly paid ;
Each can the story to the trav'ller tell.
And on the sad disaster pitying dwell."
M 2

164 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

The Waste of Bewcastle.

Tliis mountainous and desolate tract of country, borderint^
upon Liddesdale, in Scotland, in the wilds of Cumberland, wns
formerly inhabited by a most notorious nest of English Free-
booters. The captaincy of this district was generally held by
the Chief of the Kixons.

Cold Cumberland.

This characteristic is given by Drayton in his Polyolbion,
song xxxiii.

Prophecy on Gilsland Well.

In Cumberland there is a spring,

And strange it is to tell,
That many a fortune it Avill make

If never a drop they sell.

The prophetic rhymes are popularly understood to allude to
Gilsland Spa ; respecting which there is a very curious tradi-
tion, viz., that on the medicinal virtues being first discovered,
the person who owned the land not resting satisfied, as would
appear, with his profits which the influx of strangers to the
place had caused, built a house over the spring with the inten-
tion of selling the waters. But his avarice was punished in a
very singular manner, for no sooner had he completed the house
than the spring dried up, and continued so till the house was
pulled down ; when lo ! another miracle, it flowed again as
before.

Whether true or fiilse, this story of antiquity enforces a most
beautiful moral and religious precept.

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AXD SAYINGS. 165

RARE AND POPULAR RHYMES, PROVERBS, SAYINGS,
CHARACTERISTICS, REPROACHES, &c., RELATING
TO THE INHABITANTS OF CERTAIN TOWNS AND
VILLAGES, AND ALSO TO PARTICULAR FAMILIES
AND INDIVIDUALS IN THE COUNTY OF CUM-
BERLAND.

Let us go together, like the lads o' Drig and
and the lasses o' Beckermont.

The city of Barnscar, in this county, though now ruined and
depopulated, is said to have been built by Danes, and to have
been peopled from the adjoining villages of Drig and Becker-
mont. Most extensive remains of the city still exist, covering
an area of upward of 3 miles in circumference.

Beckermont, also spelt Beckermot and Beckermet.

" How's THAT ? " SAYS DUFTON.

This saying is very common in Cumberland, and originated
with the notorious thief of the name, who was in the habit of
stealing corn from the granaries of the neighbouring farmers.
Having first ascertained the whereabouts of the heap of cleansed
corn, he then, by boring a hole with an auger through the floor
of the granary and holding a sack immediately underneath,
effected his purpose. On one occasion a farmer, who had
suffered from his earlier depredations, had taken the precaution
of nailing sheet iron over his boards, and Dufton, being unable
to penetrate through the metal, gave vent to the above laconic
expression, which has since become a popular saying.

166 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

As FOXD AS THE FOLKS OF ToKEN.

The people of Brampton assert that the first coach that passed
through Token was followed by a crowd of its inhabitants in
order to see the big wheels catch the little ones.

Cumberland Jwohny.

A satirical appellation for a Cumberland man, parallel with
which are the following: — Essex Calves, Hampshire Hogs,
Kentish Long Tails, Dorsetshire Dorsers, Huntingdon Stur-.
geons, Lancashire Lonks, Lincolnshire Bagpipers, Leicestershire
Bean-bellies, London Lick-pennies, Middlesex Clowns, Norfolk
Dumplings, Yorkshire Tykes, and several others which I could
enumerate.

Long Meg and her Daughters.

A little from the conflux of the Eden and Eimont are two
villages and forts called Great and Little Salkeld. At Little
Salkeld is a circle of stones 80 yards in diameter, 77 in
number, each 10 feet high, and before them, at the entrance, is
a single one by itself 15 feet in height; this the common people
call Long Meg, and the rest her Daughters. Within the circle
are two heaps of stones (? cairns), under which it is said human
bodies are interred. It is thought to have been a monument
erected in honour of sonie victory, or at the solemn investiture
of some Danish King. This collection of stones is alluded to
by the three Norwich soldiers who visited the north in 1634
" Stony Meg and her 77 daughters as hard-hearted as
herselfe."

This descriptive name coincides pretty well with a monument
of similar character in Northumberland, known as ^' The Mare
and her Foal."

CUMBEKLAND RHYMES, PEOVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 167

[Long Meg and her Daughters was noticed by the Eev. John
Horsley (1729-30). "The area contained within is about two
acres. There was formerly a large barrow, but now the stones
thereof are removed. The ground was opened out by order of
the late Bishop Nicolson, and some urns were discovered. This
confirms me that such like monuments, even Stonehenge itself,
are sepulchral." Inedited Contributions to the Hist, of Northum-
herland, p. 14. — J. H.]

PROVERBS ON THE ANCIENT FAMILIES OF
SENHOUSE AND BALLANTYNE, &c.

1, Either the Devil or Dick Senhouse.

The family of Senhouse, of Wetherall, though always highly
respectable, was no exception to the old adage that there's
always a fool in a family (alluding, doubtless, to the ancient
practice of keeping professional fools for amusement). One of
that race was such a scant-o'-grace, or, to use a good old word,
such a wastrell, that when anything especially unco' was done
in the neighbourhood, the people were in the habit of saying it
must either be the Devil or Dick Senhouse, which is a proverb
to this day.

2. Down with an Ace and up with a Tray,

Or fare thee well, Worthell, for ever and aye.

A member of the old family of Ballantyne of Dovenby was
as noted for gambling as Dick Senhouse for every other folly.
It is said of him that one day, Avhen he was playing at the
ancient game of put (possibly with his good neighbour Dick),
and one of his best farms was the stake — though the gods had

168 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

not made him poetical, yet fear or rage did — facit indignatio
versum, and he exclaimed in the above rhymes, which have
since passed into a proverb.

It seems that the King of Spades heard and granted his
petition^ for Worthell is still in possession of the family.

Worthell Hall, variously spelt Worthall and Warthel, is
situate in the village of Gilchrist.* To perpetuate the remem-
brance of this event, he had sculptured on the one end of his
house, in accordance with the following various reading of the
rhymes, the figure of the card Duce, and a Tray on the other,
which remain at the present day.

3 Up now Duce, or else a Tray,

Or Worthell's gone for ever and aye.

4. I will do it in spite of the Devil and

Dick Senliouse.

5. The Senliouses learn to play at Cards in

tlieir mothers' bellies.

The Senliouses of Netherall, or Alneburgh Hall, and Sea-
scale, became proverbial for their predilections for cards and
dice. Even Richard Senliouse, who was appointed to the See
of Carlisle in 1624, could drip the die so pat, that one day
at table with another to whom he was a stranger, his fellow
exclaimed, in the words of the well-known Cumberland saying,
" Surely it is either the Devil or Dick Senliouse." When
joung Senhouse was a Cambridge scholar, coming down into
the country to see his friends and relations, his horse happened
to cast a shoe, but he had no money to pay the charges.
"Well, well!" says the good-natured vulcan, ''go your way,
and when you are bishop of Carlisle you must then pay me."
This little incident was never forgotten by Senliouse, and both

* See Dr. Dryasdust's Common Place Book, p. 231-2.

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 169

before and after he was bishop of Carlisle he paid the honest
blacksmith most abundantlj. Fuller says that Bishop Senhouse
was a valiant man in his younger days, and that in his old ago
he felt the admonitions of his youthful over-violent exercises.

6. Symon Senus, Prior, sette y^^ roofe and
scallope here,
To ye intent wythin tliys place they shall have
prayers every daye in y^ year.

Within the deanery, Carlisle, is a curious painted ceiling.
It is in many compartments, and consists of angels holding
shields of arms, with labels inscribed with sentences of piety
or supplication, and ornamented with roses, birds, scallop-
shells, etc. On the sides of the cross-beams are several rude
couplets. It was the work of Symon Senus (Senhouse), who
became prior about the year 1507.

There will be Dry Eyes at Holme when he Dies.

The above saying, which is prevalent in the north-west part
of the county, is valuable as characteristic of the dour and
satirical disposition of the natives. When they wish to say a
particularly severe thing ngainst any of the gentry, they re-
mark, " When he dies there will be dry eyes at Holme."

Holme, Abbey-Holme, or Holme Cultram Abbey, is the
ancient burying-place of the gentry of that portion of Cumber-
land. In this cemetery Richard of Musgrave lies buried : —

Thence to Holme Cul tram's lofty nave,
And laid him in his father's grave.

Lay of the Last Minstrel.

Observe, that Holme is a pun on home.

If she says she will, she will ; she's
Bessy o' Borrovvdale.

170 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

A colloquial phrase somewhat parallel with that of Newcastle,
viz.: " Honour bright, Bet Watt."

Epitaph.

John Bell, broken-brow

Ligs under this stean :
Four of mine een Sonnes

Laid it on my weam.
I was a man of my meate,

Master of my wife.
I lived on mine own land

Without mickle strife.

Epitaph, from Camden's Remains, at Farlam, near Naworth
Castle, a manor in Gilsland Barony.

The following is a copy of the will of another Cumberland
worthy of the same " wight ridyng Sirname, gud honast menne
and true, savynge a little shiftyng for their lyviug, God and our
Leddie help them silie pure men."*

I John Bell,

Leaves this mell

For to fell
Them that gie all to their bairns
And keep nought for their sell.

A superstition once existed in the belief that a holy mawl
(mell) hung behind the church door, which when the father
of a family was 70 years of age, his eldest son might go and
fetch and knock his father on the head, as he had become help-
less to himself, and of no more use to his family. Old Master
Aubrey is pretty diffuse on this singular superstition.

♦ Bullein's '* Dialogue bothe pleasant and pietifull," &c., London,
1573, reprinted in Rambles in Northumberland, ^c , p. 332. London,
1835.

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 171

Is not the above superstition preserved in the following rhym-
ing quatrain still popular in Berwickshire? —

Young Willie, auld Willie,

Willie amang the bairns ;
Ance we get another Willie

We'll knock out auld Willie's hairns.*

In Scotland we also meet with the following rhymes :

Auld Wull, and young Wull,

And Wull o' middle age ;
Ance we get another Wull,

We'll lock auld Wull in a cage. — Berwick.

The popular Scots version of the textual rhyme is : —

He that takes a' his gear frae himsel

An gies to his bairns,
It were weel wair'd to take a mell

An knock out his hairns (i.e. brains).

Need I refer to the only too well-known usage of the South
Sea Islanders, destroying living persons as soon as they become
a burden to others ? An aged, or impotent, or decrepit person
is rarely seen amongst them.

The Italians have the following proverb : —

Chi da il suo inanzi morire, il s'apparechia assai patire.

So also the Spaniards have : —

Quien da la suyo antes de moriz aparejese a bien sufrez.

" Who parts with his own before his death, let him prepare
for patience." [See Folklore^ vol. i.]

The Organs would blow Bishop Potter out of the Church.

Barnaby Potter was Bishop of Carlisle from 1628 to 1641
(a troublous period). He was a native of Kendal Barony,

* Brains.

172 THE DEXHAM TRACTS.

and was commonly called the puritanical bishop. They would
say of him in the reign of King James that organs would
blow him out of the Church.

Georgius Cliffordius Cumberlandius,
Doridus : regno : clarus : cum : vi : fulgebis.

Fuller.

The anagram of George Clifford I'd Vescye, Earl of Cum-
berland, temp. Eliz. and James. He died 1605.

I living planted trees : of one is made
The chest wherein my body now is laid.

In the churchyard of the village of RochclifFe is the above
singular inscription on a tombstone, to the memory of the Kev.
W. Robinson.

To see King George hung up at Eome,
To see Frince Charley crowned at Scone :
To see England tax'd, and Scotland free,
It wad be the first thing that wad dan ton me.

This stanza, from an old Jacobite ballad, assumes a rather
prominent feature in the history of merry Carlisle. Its history
is as follows : Jean Gordon, the poor and aged widow of a wan-
dering tinker, arrived at Carlisle in one of her rambles after
the rebellion, and on going up to Eickergate she spied the heads
of some of the rebels on the top of Scothgate. Having an
ardent regard for the Stuart family, old Jean broke out in a
most furious rage against the house of Hanover and the
English nation, and at intervals she lilted up the above verses.
Poor Jean, who had been driven to a state of derangement by
the wickedness of two vagabond sons, was left without a friend
to rescue her from the vengeance of a tumultuous and brutal
mob, who severely beat and ducked her in the river ; where.

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 173

whenever she got her head above the water, she shouted " Up
wi' Charley yet ! " The vulgar crowd, at length, having
dreadfully bruised and nearly drowned the poor old creature,
left her to shift for herself. She was found dead next morning,
under a hedge, near the city.

Wully's Black Horse.
Tradition tells us that in the '45 the retreating rebels halted
upon Beacon Hill near Penrith (which overlooks the town), for
the purpose of planning its destruction ; but mistaking a distant
plantation of trees for Wully's Black Horse, or at least some
portion of their pursuing enemy, they precipitately "fled away
and got them gone." For many long succeeding years this
plantation was jocosely known as the Duke of Cumberland's
Horse, but more generally by that of Wully's Black Horse.

Sir Rowland Vaux, that sometime was the Lord of Triermaine,
Is dead, his body clad in lead, and ligs law under this stane,
Evin as we, evin so was he, on earth a levan man,
Evin as he, evin so maun we, for all the craft we can.

This epitaph with slightly varied orthography is (1880)
inscribed on a brass in Lanercost Priory Church. — J. H.

Under this hedge in frosty weather,
I joined this whore and rogue together ;
Let none but Jove who rules the thunder.
Then put this whore and rogue asunder.

Salathiel Court was born at Papcastle in the parish of Bride-
kirk, in the early part of the eighteenth century. He was a
schoolmaster ; but being of extremely intemperate habits, he
often had to replenish his empty pitcher by painting signboards
for the publicans, and celebrating illicit marriages. For an
offence of the latter class he was ultimately transported to
America.

174 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Tlie above versos he sent to a neighbouring magistrate as the
certificate of the union of two profligates.

He that fetcheth a wife from Shrewsbury must carry her into
Staffordshire, or else he shall live in Cumberland.

No explanation that I have hitherto seen of the above singular
phrase is worth the trouble of copying. Even the following
variation is equally mystical.

He that takes a wife at Shrewsbury must carry her into Stafford-
shire, or else she'll drive him to Cumberland. — Fuller.

In fact, the saying appears to have been a puzzle or conundrum
to every annotator of our English Proverbial Philosophy. I take
it, however, to be simply a pun upon the first syllables of the
above-named town and counties, viz. : shrew, staff,* and cumber,
and if I am correct, it will bear the following translation : —

If a man marries a shrew {ie. a peevish, malignant, clamorous,
spiteful, vexations, turbulent woman), he must take a staff to
her back ; otherwise (as Petticoats wear the Breeches), she will
ere long begin to lead him a sad Cuniberf-somo life.

Grose has ])reserved a southern parallel proverb, which also
must be explained by the rule laid down in the above note.
The proverb is : —

An old man who weds a buxom young maiden biddeth fair to
become a freeman of Buckingham.

* In soro and car he led hys life,

That have a schrow ontyll his wyfe.

MS. XV. cent.
+ Eed the cumber. Ballad of the Raid of Eeidsivire ; that is,
Quell the tumult. Again, Carey, Earl of Monmouth, 1598, says,
" The outlaws of Liddlesdale kept him a great while in cumber,"
i.e. trouble.

CUMBERLAND EHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 175

A BORROWDALE FeLLOW, OR TuMMY.

That is an ignorant fellow. Borrowdale, an extremely wild
out of the way valley, commences at the head of Derwent lake,
and at an early period was called Bore, or Boar-dale. The
mountain at its southern extremity is still called Sty-Head;
and is said to be the place where wild boars " were wont to feed
in summer, and fall down in autumn into this dale, where they
fed upon nuts and acorns."

Sandies Bairns.

In the list of Border Clans, 1597, Will of Kinmonth, with
Kirsty Armstrang, and John Skynbank, are mentioned as
leaders of a band of Armstrangs, called Sandies Bairns,
inhabiting the Debateable Lands. Scott's Bord. Mins. Note
on Kinmont Willie.

Tacking Men.

" lately on the Borders,
Where there was nought but theft and murders,
Rapine, cheating, and resetting,
Slight-of-hand fortunes getting ;
Their designation, as ye ken.
Was all along the Tacking Men."

Cleland.

What manner of cattle-stealers they are that inhabit these
valleys in the inarches of both kingdoms John Lesley, himself a
Scotchman, and bishop of Ross, will inform you. They saUy
out of their own Borders in the night, in troops, through
unfrequented by-ways and many intricate widings. All the
day-time they refresh themselves and their horses in lurking
holes, they had pitched upon before, till they arrive in the dark
in those places they have a design upon. As soon as they have

176 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

seized upon the booty, they in like manner return home in the
night, through blind ways, and fetching many a compass. Tlie
more skilful any captain is to pass through these wild deserts,
crooked turnings, and deep precipices in the thickest mists, his
reputation is the greater, and he is looked upon as an excellent
head. And they are so very cunning that they seldom have
their booty taken from them, unless when, by the help of blood-
hounds followed them exactly upon the track, they may chance
to fall into the hands of their adversaries. When, being taken,
they have so much persuasive eloquence, and so many smooth
insinuating words at command, that if they do not move their
judges, nay and even their adversaries (notwithstanding the
the severity of their natures), to have mercy, yet they incite
them to admiration and compassion. — Camden's Britannia.

These gentry were also called prickers, riders, reavers, moss-
troopers, freebooters, cattle-drivers, hobbylers, lifters, limners
[limmers?], marchmen, borderers, nights'-men, bogtrotters,
mossers, snatchers —

Full oft the Tynedale snatchers knock
At the lone gate and try the lock.

La?/ of the Last Minstrel.

Archee Armstroxg's Stool of Eepentance.

Archibald Armstrong, a native of Arthuret, was the recog-
nised jester or fool of James the First, and allowed his tongue
full license. Archee fell into disgrace at court for calling Laud,
the Archbishop of Canterburj'-, " a monk, a rogue, and a
traitor," and for this offence had his coat pulled over his head
and was kicked out of court, never more to enter. He had,
however, before this event took place, made a considerable
fortune. On the introduction of the Liturgy into Scotland he
jestingly called the stool flung at the dean, who read the epis-
copal service in Edinburgh, the stool of repentance — but

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYIKGS. 177

Archee's jests brought his own breech in contact with the stool
of repentance sooner than lie calculated upon.

One day, when Archbishop Laud was just about to say grace
before dinner, Archee begged permission of the king to perform
that office in his stead ; and having received it, said, " All
pra'se to God, and little Laud to the Devil."

Another story told of daft Archee who, " Armstrong like,
thieves all," had, it seems, an appetency for reiving in a small
way, and having one day stolen one of his neighbour's sheep,
and being suspicious that the owner knew the road it had
travelled, he placed the dead animal in the cradle by the fire-
side, and by that cunning trick he avoided detection.

Archee in age retired into Cumberland, and dying at
Arthuret, was, appropriately enough, buried in the cemetery-
garth of his native town on All Fools' Day.

The Lady's Dowry.

In Naworth Castle was a bedstead, on the purchase of which,
tradition says, was expended the enormous sum of five hundred
jiounds, the whole fortune of the lady of one of the olden barons.
And from this circumstance it derived its name of the Lady's
Dowry. But all is now gone, lady, dower, and bedstead ; and
not a vestige remains to tell that they ever had existence, save
and except in the legends of romance and the lays of the
minstrel. The bedstead was destroyed by the fire svliich con-
sumed the greater portion of that border stronghold, Saturday,
May 18th, 1844.

Sic : transit : gloria : etc.

I do know better nor that, for o' aw come out o' Coverdale.

This saying will be best illustrated by the story of the
Coverdale farmer, who went to pay his landlord his half-year's

N

i

178 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

rent; and when introduced to the 'Squire, who, by the way,
was taking his otinm cum dignitate in a room the floor of which
was only partially covered Avith a rich carpet, instead of taking
his course direct across the room went round the sides thereof,
which were uncovered. His landlord perceiving this, said to
him, " John, John ! don't walk there, but walk upon the
carpet." The answer was, '* Nay, nay! canny maister; I do
know better nor treed atop o' your bonny happins, for o' aw
come out o' Coverdale."

BoBN Ayont the Gerse-Dyke.

A saying expressive, I believe, of extreme ignorance, and
evidently referring to the Roman earthwork defence.

Poor Johnny Reay ;
Mickle corn, but little streea.

I cannot properly locate this rhyme ; it was, however, told
me by a native of Nent-head, in the parish of Alston.

It is spoken in derision of the propensity which farmers have
for grumbling about the times and seasons.

The Men of Drio, and the Women of Beckermont.

This saying is fully explained by that recorded at the head
of this section. See p. 165.

To Bide Nixon's Glow.

A feud had long existed between the Nixons of Bewcastle
and the Johnstons of Annandale. Nixon, when blind with age,
was asleep after dinner in his castle. On awaking he said that
the Johnstons were looking in at the windows, and were to
fire the house. His wife said that was impossible, for about

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 179

this time a party wliich had been sent out from the castle
would be attacking the Johnstons in their own hold, and
bringing off the cattle. The blind old man was, however, right.
Young Johnston was lookino; in at a small window niche, and
heard the conversation. Enraged at finding that his home-
stead was made the subject of attack, ho ordered his followers
to close the doors of the castle and fire it. Old Nixon attempted
to escaped by a window, but stuck in the aperture, which was
too small for his body to pass through, and there miserably
perished.

Hence the phrase signifies " to suffer some terrible calamity."
After setting the castle on fire, Johnston set out to meet the
party that had been attacking his home. He conquered them,
and retook his cattle. See Nicolson's Cumberland.

The White Harvest.

There is a tradition in Cumberland that the sweetest of all
sweet songs, the Flowers of the Forest^ was the composition,
not of a Scotch, but an English Borderer. It is almost capable
of historical proof that most of the young men of Cumberland,
capable of bearing arms, were di'auglited to go to the battle,
which it describes,* and to this day the harvest of that year
goes by the name of the " White Harvest " in that county.
It is supposed to have been so called from the circumstance of
the youth having been taken to the war just at the approach
of harvest, leaving the crop to be shorn or reaped only by
persons with grey or white hairs. This is pathetically lamented
in the song —

" In har'st at the shearing, nae swankies are jeering,
The bandsters are wrinkled, and lyart, and grey."

Boucher's Gloss., p. 56. — [J. H.]

* Namely, to that of Flodden Field, fought Friday, 9 Sept. 1513.

n2

180 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

High and Low Willey Wastel.

On the village green, Cumwliittoii, are two artificial mounts,
formerly used as butts for exercising archers, so called, and in
all probability from the archer of olden time, whose name is
still celebrated in local song.

Jack Musgrave, Captain of Bewcastle.

A bold Borderer, of the time of our eighth Harry. He
planted five of his sons at Plumpton, with many of his de-
pendants.

Carlisle.

1. Nearer God's blessing than Carlisle Fair.

Carlisle Fair, or as it is called by the country people Card
Fair, is holden on the 26th of August, and is so noted for the
number and variety of its amusements and choice commodities,
that there is hardly a villager within the circuit of 10 miles who
does not attend it ; save and except perhaps two or three un-
happy nymphs and swains, whom the authority of a morose
parent or a churlish master or mistress confine at home.

In Allan Ramsay's collection of Scots Proverbs we meet with
the following —

" God's help is nearer than tlie fair e'en."

In Lancashire the natives have a local saying —

" God's grace and Pilling Moss arc endless."

2. The sun shines fair, etc., etc.

See illustration of this and other Carlisle proverbs^ pp. 147,-
et seq.

3. Here chicks in eggs for breakfast sprawl,
Here godless bojs God's glories squall ;
While Scotsmen's heads adorn the wall,
But Corby's walks atone for all.

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 181

The above verses on Carlisle and Corby were written by
David Hume when he visited this part of the country about the
year 1750. They were originally written upon a pane of
glass at the Old Bush Inn at Carlisle, and were communicated
to Mr. Howard by Sir Walter Scott.

An old traveller who visited Carlisle in 1634 writes — " The
organ and voices did well agree, the one being like a shrill
bagpipe, the other like the Scottish tone."

The rocky and richly Avooded banks of the Eden, both above
and below Corby, are the deh'ght of every visitor to this part of
the kingdom.

" For Paradise's seat, no more
Let travellers search on Persia's shore ;
Its groves still flourishing appear,
Upon the east of Edeu here."

Relph.

4. Carlisle, a sea port without ships, merchants, or trade.

This town is, however, happily situated for the supply of
water, an element indispensable in the real comfort of its
inhabitants. The Caldew, or Caude, a pure and rapid stream,
runs on the west side of the city, dividing it from the suburbs,
and increases the water of the Eden. The latter is a large and
beautiful river, passing close to the town, over which there is a
handsome stone bridge, but the river is too rapid for navigation.
The Peterell on the south also flows into the Eden, which in its
turn ere long empties itself into the Solway Firth. In 1823
the Carlisle Ship Canal was completed, and extended from
Carlisle to the Solway at Fisher's Cross, a distance of about 11
miles. It is navigable for vessels of from 80 to 100 tons.

At Carlisle immense quantities of small silver coins have been
found, which arc called '' St. Cutlibert's pence." They are sup-
posed to have been coined at Durham.

1 82 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Penrith.

1. Little London.

Penrith is so called, I suppose, on account of tlie extreme
love of dress and gaiety which universally predominates
throughout the whole of the feminine portion of the inhabitants
of this pretty little town.

Hingham in Norfolk is also so called from the same cause.

2. Peerless Penrith.

Drunken Barnahy, in his Itinerarium, Lond. 1774, p. 151,
notices the above characteristic in the following couplet : —

" Thence to Peerless Penrith went I,
Which of merchandise hath plenty."

Distington, "Workington, Harrington, Dean,
Hail, Ponsonby, Westlington, and others between ;
Kinnyside, Egremont, Barton, St. Bees,
Clea, Cockermouth, Calder and mair besides these.

A rhyming enumeration of the names of 14 towns and
villages in this county.

East, West, North, South,
Kirby, Kendal, Cockermouth.

A various form of this local ihyme is used by nurses and
children when playing at a certain game on the fingers, in
which the last word is parodied to Cock-him-out.

BORROWDALE SoAP.

In the above district is found a kind of soft white stone or
earth, which, from its name, was probably used at one period in
fulling cloths. When this earth has undergone a chemical
process similar to that by which black lead (plumbago) is
hardened, it makes very excellent slate pencils.

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 183

Cakny Coomerlan'.

On the authority of North Dalrymple, Esq., who quotes it
as the characteristic used by our Scottish friends and neigh-
bours. The same characteristic is applied to Carlisle.

When a Bull shall toll Lanercost Bell, and a Hare bring forth on
Naworth's hearth-stane, Lanorcost shall fall, Naworth be burned
down, and Dalstone Church be washed away.

This old prophecy is still remembered by those who have
listened to the stories and believe in the power of grammery.
A bull, it is said, did toll the bell of Lanercost, and a hare has
brought forth on Naworth hearth-stone ; so the prophecy has
now in part been fulfilled, for Lanercost is a ruin, and Naworth
Castle has been destroyed by fire. Dalston Church, however,
still stands.

The Five Towns above Cocker.

Brigham, Eaglesfield, Dean, Graysouthen, and Clifton, are
in ancient deeds^ called " the five towns above Cockex'."

" The Luck of Edenhall."

1. If that glass either break or fall,
Farewell the luck of Edenhall !

2. If this glass do break or fall,
Then farewell all luck in Edenhall !

3. Whenever this cup shall break or fall.
It is farewell the luck of Eden Hall !

The above are the printed forms of this old Cumberland
rhyme ; but whenever I have heard it used orally, either in

184 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

the counties of Westmoreland or Cumberland, it always ran

tlms : —

If ever this cup either break or fall,
Farewell the luck of Edenall-Hall !

In Edenhal], Cumberland, tlie mansion of the knightly family
of Musgrave, is preserved, in a leathern case, an old drinking
glass, bearing the sacred monogram and enamelled in colours,
which, according to the tradition of the neighbourhood, was
many long years ago taken from some fairies near a well dedicated
to St. Cuthbert, not far distant from the house. This glass is
supposed, and with great justice, to have been a sacred chalice ;
but the legendary tale is, that the butler, going to draw water,
surprised a company of festive fairies who were amusing them-
selves on the soft s-reensward which surrounded the well. He
seized the glass, which was standing upon its margin ; they
tried to recover it, but after an ineffectual struggle flew away,
repeating one of the versions of the rhyme quoted above.

From this friendly caution the glass obtained the name
recorded in an excellent ballad of a famous drinking match at
this hospitable mansion, which begins thus : —

" God prosper long from being broke,
The luck of Eden-hall ;
A doleful drmking-bout I sing,
There lately did befall."

The good fortune, however, of this ancient house was never
so much endangered as by the Duke of Wharton, who having
drank its whole contents to the success and prosperity, no
doubt, of its worthy owner and his race, inadvertently dropped
it ; and here most certainly would have terminated tlie Luck of
Eden-hall, if the butler, Avho had brought the draught, and had
stood at his elbow to receive the empty vessel, had not happily
caught it in his napkin. It is not now, however, subjected to

CUMBERLAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 185

such risks ; but the lees of wiuc are still apparent at the bottom
of the glass.

Sir Walter Scott, in his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border,
vol. ii., p, 130, makes the following remark when noticing this
fairy prophecy : "It is still currently believed that he who has
the courage to rush upon a fairy festival and snatch from
them their drinking-cup or horn, shall find it prove a cornucopia
of good fortune if he can bear it safely away across a running
stream."

A coloured engraving of The Luck of Edenhall is given in
Lysons' Cumberland, p. 209. A horn of this class is saitl to
have been presented to Hen. I. by a lord of Colchester. (Gervas
Tilb. 980.)

The ballad above quoted is commonly attributed to the Duke
of Wharton, but in reality was composed by Captain Philip
Lloyd, of Swaledale, Yorks., one of the duke's jovial com-
panions.

The Luck of Muncaster.

Durinof the civil wars between the Houses of York and Lan-
caster. Hen. VI., in his adversity, found a refuge in the house
of Sir John Pennington [at Furness], a gallant knight who had
distinguished himself in the King's service. At parting his
Majesty, in testimony of his good will to the famil}', left them a
favourite driidcing cup of glass, which, from the general opinion
of that monarch's sanctity, was called tlie Luck of Muncaster ;
this motto is engraved on the cup. It was for a long series of
years preserved at Binchcster Hall, near Bishop Auckland, with
great care, as entailing a blessing on the family. Where the
cup is now, I wot not.

Hey for Cumberland, ho !

A Cumberland cry; also the name of a popular local tune
and ballad.

V.

POPULAR EHYMES, PEOVERBS, SAYINGS, PROPHE-
CIES, &c., PECULIAR TO THE ISLE OF MAN AND
THE MANKS PEOPLE.

The Manks and the Scotch come so near as to throw their
Beetles at one another.

A traditional prophetic saying used in the north of the island.
It is stated in Holinshed's Chronicles of Scotland, that Agrieola,
the Roman general, wanting vessels to carry his army over from
Scotland to the Isle of Man, such as could swim and knew the
shallow places of the coast made shift to pass the gulph, and so
got to land, to the great wonder of the inhabitants.

The land is assuredly gaining yearly on the sea in the point
of Ayre, and the Northerns look forward to their saying being
ultimately fulfilled, notwithstanding there is still so much to
fill up.

Like a Manks Cat, hasn't a tail to wag.

Spoken of a person who is totally unable to clear himself of
an imputation with which he is charged.

As equally as the Herring's back-bone doth lie in the

MIDST OF the fish.

This expression forms one section of the oath administered to
the Deemster, which oath, being rather unique, I quote in full :
*' By this book and by the holy contents thereof, and by the
wonderful works that God hath miraculously wrought in heaven
above, and in the earth beneath, in 6 days and 7 nights, I,

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO THE ISLE OF MAN. 187

A. B., do swear that I will, without respect of favour or friend-
ship, love or gain, consanguinity or affinity, envy or malice,
execute the laws of this Isle, justly betwixt our Sovereign Lady
the Queen and her subjects within this place, and betwixt party
and party, as indifferently as the Herring's back-bone doth lie
between the two sides." The Deemsters, of whom there are
two, are the supreme judges, both in cases of common law and
life and death. The office is of very high antiquity, and it is
mentioned in the statute book so early as the year 1422 ;
they are styled in the ancient Court Rolls, Justiciarii Domini
Regis, and derive their name from the original nature of their
office, which was '' to deem the laws truly to the parties " in
any question of doubt.

The saying will, no doubtj remind the Manksmen of his duty,
as well as the judge, by their allusion to his almost daily dish.

The Arms of Man are its Legs.

A punning proverb. A valued correspondent resident in the
isle informs me that the only jManksman mentioned in history
was one that ran away. If so, he kept the arms, or rather the
legs, of his nation well in his remembrance. Probably he was
acquainted wdth the following old rhyming witicism :

" He that fights and runs away,
May live and fight another day :
But he that is in battle slain,
Can never hope to fight again."

At first Eden was given to Man,
A garden to work and to feed in ;

But now we've an opposite plan,
For Man is given to Eden.

The circumstance of the Hon. and Rev. R. J. Eden (vie. of

188 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Stockton) having recently been promoted to the Bishopric of
Sodor and Man has given origin to the above impromptu by a
contributor to the Edinburgh Evening Post, 1847.

Do as they do in the Isle of Man,
Hows tliat ? They do as they can.

In the Bishopric of Durham we have a saying, anent a small
out-of-the-way uplandish hamlet towards the head of Teesdale,
which we are rather guilty of using (although in a jesting manner)
when we hear any of our neighbours complaining of their larder
or aumbrey being nearly empty, to wit, " You must do as they
do at Kelton, when they've nothing to eat." Very poor conso-
lation this for an empty stomach, I trow.

Dulce of Athol, King of Man,

Is the greatest Man in all this Lan'.

Nisbet in his Heraldry, Appendix to vol. ii. p. 201, says:
" I shall conclude with the opinions of all the great lawyers in
England who have had occasion to mention the Isle of Man,
viz., that it is a royal fief of the crown of England, and the
only one: so that I may say without censure, that if his Grace
the Duke of Athol is not the richest subject of the King of
England, he is the greatest man in his Majesty's dominions."

Besides the title of Duke of Athol, the following honours are
thickly strewn upon the ancient family of Murray : — Captain
General, Governor, and Lord Proprietor of the Isle of Man
Marquis of Tullibardine and Athol ; Earl of Tullibardine. Athol
Strathtay and Strathardle ; Viscount Balquhidder, Glenalmond
and Glenlyon; Baron Murray of Tullibardine, Balvenie and Gask
Lord of the Isle of Man ; Constable of the Castle of Kincleven,
and Hereditary Keeper of Falkland Palace. His English titles
are — Earl Strange, Baron Strange, of Knockyn, county Salop,

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO THE ISLE OF MAN. 189

Murray and Stanley, county Gloucester. The family of Murray
made a complete surrender of aU tlie!r kingly privileges in the
Isle of Man, after long negociation, which commenced as early
as 1726, into the hands of the English Government in 1829,
receiving on the whole £416,114 sterling.

George Augustus Frederick John Murray, living 1850, is the
sixth Duke of Athol. Present Duke, Sir John James Hugh
Henry Stewart Murray, K.T. &c. [This saying looks like an
attempt to versify Nisbet, the herald's statement.]

As ROUND AS THE TyNWALD.

This celebrated eminence, called in the Manks language
Cronk Keeillown, which signifies the hill of St. John's Church
(now the Tynwald Hill) stands on the right of the main road
from Douglas to Peel, and near the chapel of St. John. This
ancient mound is of a circular form ; the approach to the top is by
a flight of steps cut in the turf, directly facing the ancient
chapel. There are three circles of grass seats or benches below
the summit, which are regularly advanced 3 feet above each
other. The circumference of the lowest is about 80 yards ;
there is a proportionate diminution of the circumference and
width of the two higher ; the diameter of the top of the hill is
6 feet. Prior to any act of the legislation becoming the laws of
the land, it must be promulgated in Manks and English from
this hill, the Lieutenant-governor and the staff of government
attending. The order of the ceremony runs thus : — On the
summit of the mound sits the Lord, or his lieutenant, with his
face fronting the east, and h's sword upright in his hand ;
before him sit the two Deemsters; on the highest circle his
barons and beneficed men; in the middle the twenty-four keys,
" formerly styled the worthiest men in the island" ; and on the
lowest the knights, squires, and yeomen ; while the commons
stood without the circle, with three clerks in their surplices. The

190 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

hill was guarded by tlic coroner and moars armed with swords
and axes ; and a proclamation was issued by the coroner of
Glenfaba denouncing those who should murmur in the king's
presence.

The most singular circumstance in connection with this hill
is, that it is formed of soil collected from every parish in the
island. The old chapel has been taken down and a new one
erected on the same site, a.d. 1847.

All the bairns unborn will rue the day,
That the Isle of Man was sold away :
And there's never a wife that loves a dram
But what will lament for the Isle of Man !

This quatrain shows that the inhabitants of the Isle of Man
had no little dread that their favourite drams would, upon the
island being sold, come under the ban of the English excise
laws. This, however, has not yet been the case, and the wives
of Man, both mekyll and lytill, clde and zynge, indulge in their
leetle drops as profusely as they did before that awful event took
place !

1. God keep the house and all within
From Cut MacCuUoch and all his kin.

The Poor Manksman's Prayer.

2. God keep the good corn,

The sheep and the bullock,
From Satan, from sin,

And from Cutlar MacCulloch.

The Rich Manksman's Prayer.

Cutlar MacCulloch was a powerful Gallovidian rover, who
made repeated excursions into the northern part of the island
about 1507, carrying off all that he could lay his hands on ;

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO THE ISLE OF MAK. 191

SO that the inhabitants used to eat the sodden meat before tliej
supped the broth, lest they should be deprived of the more
substantial part. On one of these occasions as the master of
the house had just repeated one of these rhymes. Cutlar in
person made his appearance with this reply : —

Gademan, gudeman, ye pray o'er late,
MacCJullocli's ship is at the yate.

The yate is a well known landing place on the north side of
the island. These incursions caused watch and ward to be
maintained Avith the greatest strictness for a long time after-
wards.

The Mank's Sea Harvest,

The prayer of the Litany of the Mank's Church, beginning :
'' Preserve to us the kindly fruits of the earth," is added :
" and restore and continue to us the blessings of the sea."
This Avas introduced into the church by good Bishop Wilson,
and was first inserted in the Manks Book of Common Prayer,
in 1779. Herrings formerly were the chief, and still continue
to be a great staple commodity of the island ; and before
leaving the harbour in the evening to go out to fish, a clergy-
man used to perform divine service to the assembled fishermen.
This is now discontinued ; yet upon leaving the harbour, and at
a sign from the master of the boat, every man upon his knees,
with uncovered head, or his face in his hat, implores for a
minute the blessing and protection of the Almighty in the way
he thinks best. The season of this sea harvest commences about
July, and continues till the end of October. A boat has been
known to bring in as many as 98,400 herrings, the produce of
one night's catch.

192 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

When Satliane tryed liis arts in vaine,

The worship of the Lordc to gaine,

The yird, he said, and all be thine,

Except ane space, that mann be mine.

Though bare it is, and scarce a span,

By mortals called the Ysle of Man;

That is a place I cannot spare,

For all my choicest friends are there.

(From Irvine's Historice Scoticce Nomen-
clatura, 1682, quoted in Train's
Isle of Man, i. p. 30.)

The natives of the island have a tradition that Mona is the
original paradise ! If so the arch enemy, from the above,
appears to stick to it to the last. Many places in Man have
scriptural names. IiTount Sinai is the name of a Iiill opposite
Ballachrinck, St. John's.

Mannagh vow Cliagiitey, Cliaghtey, nee Cliagiitey coe.

That is, if custom is not indulged with custom, custom will
weep !

Manksmen are very tenacious of any deviation from ancient
custom, and commonly make use of this exclamation.

Hit Him again, for he's Irish.

There appears to have been among the Manks people an old
and deep-rooted antipathy to the people of that nation, origi-
nating most probably in some sudden descent upon them by
the Irish in days of old. In the Book of Orders^ made b}'' the
Earl of Derby in 156] , it is ordered " That Irish women,
loytering and not working, be commanded forth of the said
Isle with as much convenient speed as may be, and no Boate
hereafter to be suffered to bring any of the said loytering

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO THE ISLE OF MAN. 193

persons into the isle, but that upon paine and forfeiture of his
Boate and Goods, after warning given him, take the saide
persons to him againe." There are many persons at the
present day who look upon them with much the same sort of
feeling.

On the English and Scottish Borders we meet with the
same parallel proverb applied to the natives of the respective
nations.

There will neither be Clag kor Kielain.

That is, there will neither be large nor little bell, intimating
thereby that there will be no service at church, or rather, as
the saying is evidently of Koman Catholic origin, there will
neither be prayers nor mass.

Tra ta yn derry vought cooney lesh bought elley [ta see

HENE GARAGHTEe].* «

That is, when one poor man assists another, God himself
laughs.

Considering the limited means of the Manks people, there
are none more benevolent to the poor. The pauper portion of
the population is supported by voluntary contributions, there
being no poor's-rates in the island, the applicant generally
receiving a plate of meat. It is customary for these walkers,
as they are called, to enter a house without knocking, and take
a seat by the fire. Many old respectable inhabitants consider
it inhospitable to have a knocker on their doors, and some still
retain the good old custom of keeping up a bed for the walker,
should night overtake him on their " street," as the road
leading to their house is called.

* Camden's Britannia, by Gibson, col. 1445.

194 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Ten L's, thrice X with V and II did fall.
Ye Manks take care, or suffer more ye shall.

According to Camden, this rhyme orglnated on the Scottish
Conquest of the Isle of Man. The Scots troops disembarked
at Derby Haven, on the seventh of October, 1270, and next
morning before sunrise a battle was fought, in which the above
number of the islanders fell, bravely fighting for the liberty of
their country.

L decies, X ter, et penta duo cecidere,
Mannica gens de te, darana futura cave.

If the Puffin's nest was not robbed in the Calf of Man,

THEY would breed THERE NO LONGER.

The Coulterneb Puffin, down to the beginning of the century,
used to frequent the Calf of Man in large numbers, to build
their nests in the burrows made by the rabbits. It hatches one
bird at a time, but if the egg be taken away it will lay another,
and even a third in the same place. This may have led to the
saying. They have now, however, deserted the spot, said to
have been caused by a swarm of Norway rats, cast on shore
from a Bussian vessel which was wrecked on the coast ;
probably the light-houses now erected on the spot are the real
cause.

In the north of England this bird is locally known by the
name of Tommy-Noddy. It is a visitant of the Fame Islands
and lays its egg in the same singular situation.

Manksman-like, a day behind the Fair.

This is commonly used by the English residents on the island.
A native rarely attends punctually to his appointments, 11
o'clock is generally taken as 12 by him ; and often if he gets
there in the course of the day, he will say : " It's not so bad."
The Manks people are not singular in this besetting sin.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO THE ISLE OF MAN. 195

Holding by the Straw.

A writer on the laws of Mona, 1784, says: "They have
still the power of life and death to banish- or condemn to per-
petual imprisonment; to raise men and money; to place or
displace an officer in the island at their own pleasure ; and all
fines and forfeitures in cases of treason, felony, and felo-de-se,
do belong to them. The greatest difference between a king
and lord of Man is, that the kings were crowned, whereas
the lords are now only proclaimed and installed. The king
creates barons, makes knights and esquires, but the lords never
confer any titles of honour. The Kings of Man in old times,
according to Manks tradition, claimed the whole island and all
the revenues thereof, as belonging to the crown. The inhabi-
tants had no right to any inheritance in the island, but were
only tenants at will, and held their lands of the king for
the performance of certain duties and services. And this
tenure they called the Jioldlng by the Straio, which was first
changed into leases for three lives during the civil wars, thereby
to augment the lord's revenues, the tenants being then obliged
to pay yearly a quit-rent, and a fine at renewal. The Kings of
this Isle have at different times been tributary both to the kings
of England, Scotland, and Norway, and were obliged in token
of subjection to these. states to pay a certain homage at the
coronation of any of the princes of these kingdoms. They have
made many wars in attempts to enlarge their dominions beyond
the confines of this little island."

Our Enemies the Eedshanks, or Goblin Marrey.

This at no distant period was a common nickname for a
Scotch Highlander, of whom Manksmen used formerly to bo
very suspicious.

02

196 THE DEKHAM TRACTS.

With one leg I spurn Ireland ;
With the second I kick Scotland ;
And with the third I kneel to England.

Spoken of the three legs of Man. The arms of the island are,
Gules, three armed legs argent, conjoined in a fess at the upper
part of the thighs, flexed in triangle, garnished and spurred
topaz. The motto is '' Quocunque Jeeeris Stabit. "Whatever
way you throw me I will stand.'' [Whichever way you shall
have thrown it, it will stand.] This device is said to have been
adopted by Alexander III. of Scotland, about 1270. Each
knee is bent, as if performing a genuflection, which is supposed
to refer to the position of the island, with respect to England,
Scotland, and Ireland, when each was a separate kingdom. So
that in whatever posture the insignia are placed, one leg only
can assume the attitude of kneeling, and no transposition of the
motto can change their true meaning.

As STIFF AS THE StAFF OF GOVERNMENT.

The Lieutenant-governor, in his civil caj^acit}^, is the Staff of
Government, and as such presides in all the Legislative Courts.
He receives a White Staff" on his instatement, and swears that
he will deal truly and uprightly between the Queen and her
subjects in the Isle of Man, and as indifferently between party
and party as this staff" now standeth, holding at the same time
the ensign of his authority in the most erect position.

It is spoken proverbially of a person who carries himself in a
stiff and erect manner.

Time enough ! Time enough ! quoth the Manksman.

This Manks procrastinator is sure to come out when anything
is to be done.

Dr. Short, Bishop of St. Asaph, while resident at Bishop's

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO THE ISLE OF MAN. 197

Court, lifid in his garden several large beds of thyme, and in
passing them with his friends he used to say, in allusion to tlie
Mankish sin, " You see I have time enough."

Clough na Kielagh ayns corneil'd thy me.

Tliat is, may a stone of the church be found in thy dwelling.*
This would be considered as one of the greatest misfortunes
that could befall a family. The Manks, like many other
people, have a particular veneration for anything that has been
dedicated to the service of the church, and have a superstitious
feeling in removing or applying them to their own use.

[When the Manx wished to pronounce a special curse upon
a man, they used the imprecation, '• Clagh ny Killagh ayns
Kione dy hie Vovar ;" literally, " May a stone of the church be
in the head of thy house a great one/' i.e., " May thy punishment
be that of the man who commits sacrilege." — Cummings, The
Great .Stanley, p. 248. Camden gives it thus : " They have
generally hated sacrilege to such a degree, that they do not
think a man can wish a greater curse to a family than in these
words : " Clogh ny Killagh ayns Corneil dty Hie Moar," i.e.,
" May a stone of the church be found in the corner of thy
dwelling-house." — Gihsoii's ed. col. 1446. — J. H.]

Then there are yet Men in the Isle of Man.

Castle Rushen has long been famous for its subterranean
passages, and there are individuals amongst the islanders who
still firmly believe that they lead to a beautiful country
underground, inhabited by giants. Amongst the many tales
they relate is one, that, several attempts being made to explore
the passages, which in general proved unsuccessful, a num.-
bcr of daring fellows agreed to attempt the enterprise in com-

* A Manks form of cursing. — Ecclesiohgical Notes on the Isle of
Man, p. 46.

198 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

pany. Having armed themselves with staves, etc., etc , and
procuring torches, tliey descended. After proceeding a little
way, they found an old man, of great size, with a long beard,
and blind, sitting on a rock as if fixed there. He, hearing them
approach, enquired of them as to the state of the island, and at
last asked one to put forth his hand, on which one of them gave
him a ploughshare which he had, wheli the old giant squeezed
the iron together with the greatest ease, exclaiming at the same
time : " Then there are yet men in the Isle of Man."

The same tradition under varied forms prevails in Scotland,
Denmark, France, etc. See the story of Frederick Barbarossa
sleeping on his throne in the Castle of KyfFhausen, in Quarterly
Review, March, 1820.

Epigram on the Arms op Man.

' Reader, thou'st seen a falling cat
Lights always on his feet so pat ;
A shuttlecock will still descend,
Meeting the ground with nether end ;
The persevering Manksman's thus
A shuttlecock or pauvre puss.
However through the world he's tost, —
However disappointed, crost, —
Eeverses, losses, Fortune's frown,
No chance or change can keep him down.
Upset him anyway you will,
Upon his legs you find him still :
For ever active, brisk, and spunky,
Stabit jeceris quocunque.

He is like a Manks Cat, he leaves nought ahint him

BUT his tail.

See note on saying, '' Like a Manks Cat, liasn^t a tail to
wag."

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO THE ISLE OF MAN. 199

The only animal peculiar to the island is the tailless cat,
called in Manks "stubbin," in English " rumpy." Professor
Forbes states it to be " an accidental variety of the common
species, Felis catus, frequently showing no traces of the caudal
vertebra, and in others a mere rudimental substitute." The
witty author of A Siv Days^ Tour in the Isle of Man, p. 152,
says : " But as they intermarry with the more favoured
English breeds, they have a quarter tail, half tail, tln:ee-
quarters of a tail, and full tail, according to some scale of
deserts with which I am unacquainted." Some affirm that this
is the genuine aboriginal cat of the island ; and there is a tradi-
tion that the first stubbin or rumpy cat seen in the island was
cast ashore from a foreign vessel wrecked on the rocks at
Spanish Head, shortly after the creation of the world !

These cats are considered good mousers, and many are
annually carried out of the island as curiosities by visitors who
frequent it

[Dr. Geo. Wilson calls it " the absurd cat without a tail,"
a great favourite of his. Mem., p. 20.]

Blue, the Makksman's Livery.

This saying has, I suppose, originated in the fact that the
prevailing colour of the dress of the Manks people is blue.

A Manksman's Arms are three Legs.

Spoken by way of pun on the armorial bearings of the Isle of
Man.

Galloping the White Mare.

Said of servants who run away from their places before the
expiration of their servitude. Female servants hire at Latter-
mas, 28th March, and males at Michaelmas, 29th September,
for twelve months. The old privilege of yarding, given by

200 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

ancient cnstojiary law to the Lords, Deemsters, and Chief
Officers in the island, according to their degree, of compelling
certain persons of either snx into their service, at a trifling fee
fixed by law, has now and very properly fallen into disuse.

On Bishop Hildesley.

Jf to paint folly, till her friends despise,
And virtue, till her foes would fain be wise ;
If angel sweetness — if a God-like mind,
That melts with Jesus over all mankind :
If this can form a bishop — and it can,
Tho' lawn were wanting, Hildesley 's the man.

When Bishop Hildesley was at Scarborough, in 1764, the
above verses were stuck up in the Spa-room, and were taken
down by him,* and after his deatli found among his papers, with
these words written underneath by the Bishop : " From vain
glory in human applause, Deus me liberat et conservat."
Bishop Hildesley was instrumental in the translation of the
Scriptures into the Manks language and originated Sunday
schools in the island. He died 7th December, 1772.

Be shibber oie innid vees olty volg lane,
My jig laa caisht yon traaste son shen.

Translation —

On Shrove Tuesday night, though thy supper be fat,
Before Easter-day thou may'st fast for that.

On Shrove Tuesday it is customary to have solla-ghyn or
crowdy for dinner instead of breakfast, as at other times ; and
for supper, fleshmeat with a large pudding and pancakes. Into

• " By his sister," — Quigley's Guide to the Isle of Man, p. 2o,

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO THE ISLE OF MAN. 201

the latter are thrown a ring and a piece of silver money, with
which the candidates for matrimony try their fortune. It is
quite a Manks merrymaking ; hence the proverb.

There has not been a merry World since the
Phynnodderee lost his ground.

This useful little old gentleman with his hairy coat was a
fallen fairy wlio was banished from his brethren in Fairy-land
for having paid his addresses to a pretty Manks maid, and
deserting the fairy court during the harvest moon to dance
with his earthly love in the merry Glen of Rushen. He is
doomed to remain in the isle till the end of time ; and many are
the stories related by the Manks peasantry of his prodigious
strength. Having performed one of his prodigious feats, a
gentleman wishing to recompense him caused a few articles of
clothing to be laid down for him in his nsual haunts ; when on
perceiving them, he lifted them up one by one, saying : —

Cap for the Head ; alas ! poor Head :
Coat for the Back ; alas ! poor Back :
Breeches for the Breech ; alas ! poor Breech :
If those be all thine, thine cannot be
The merry Glen of Rushen.

Having said so he departed^ and has never been heard of
since.

His resemblance was that of the Lubber Fiend of Milton.

The Rhyme of the Scottish Brownie, when he was rewarded
with a coat and sark, ran thus : —

Gie Brownie coat, gie Brownie sark,
Ye's get nae mair o' Brownie's wark.

202 . THE DENHAM TBACTS.

Tluit of the Brownie of Ettrick Forest was —
Farewell to bonny Bodsbeck.

So also that of the Cauld Lad of Hilton Castle, in the
Bishopric of Durham, ran in a similar rhvming strain, when
he was similarly rewarded with a brand new cloak and hood —

Here's a Cloak and there's a Hood,

The Cauld Lad o' Hilton will do na niair good.

The luck of the house is said to depart for ever with the
oiFended Brownie !

[Manks Fairies.

They are much the same as their neighbours on the mainland.
They go into mills at night and grind stolen corn ; they steal
milk from the cattle ; they live in green mounds ; in short, they
are like little mortals invested with supernatural power, thus :
There was a man lived not long ago near Port Quin who had a
Lhiannan Shee. " He was not like other people, but he had a
fairy sweetheart ; but he noticed her, and they do not like being
noticed, the fairies, and so he lost his mind. Well, he was quite
quiet like other people, but at night he slept in the barn, and
they used to hear him talking to his sweetheart, scolding her
sometimes, but if any one made a noise he would be quiet at
once." The man went mad ; but his madness took the form of
the popular belief, and that again attributed his madness to the
fairy mistress. Campbell's West Highland Tales, ii., p. 70.]

Fairies and Churches.

There is a mythical tale of church building in the Isle of Man
told in connection with that of St. Trinion's {i.e. St. Ninian), and

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO THE ISLE OF MAN. 203

is mentioned by Grose in his Antiquities. He also gives a draw-
ing of the church, which shows it much in the same state in which
it appears at this moment of time (1851), for no one will touch a
stone of it. Tradition relates that the present ruinous state of
the building was owing to the malice of some unlucky demons,
who, for want of better employment, amused themselves with
throwing off the roof, which frolic they so often repeated that
the prosecution of the building was abandoned.

Manks Bye-names.

The following general bye-names occur in the Isle of Man : —
The Dalby folks are called Gobbocks, from their partiality to
that fish. The Castleton youths are generally styled Dullish,
which in Manks patois is equivalent to a boaster. And each
and all in their turn retort upon the Peel gents by calling them
Vinegar Hill Boys, also Skaddon or Haddock Boys.

[Wren-hunting in the Isle of Man.

" Manx herring-fishers dare not go to sea without a wren,
taken dead with them, for fear of disasters and storms. Their
traditioii is of a ' sea-spirit ' that haunted the ' herring-tack,'
attended always by storms, and at last it assumed the figure of
a wren and flew away. So they think when they have a dead
wren with them all is snug. The poor bird has a sad life of it
in that singular island ; when one is seen at any time, scores of
Manxmen start and hunt it down." — Mactaggart's Gallovidian
Encyclopcedia, p. 157. Of wren-hunting in Ireland, and in
France near Marseilles, there is an account in Brand's Pop.
Ant.y iii., pp. 103-4.]

[Li Cregeen's Manks Dictionary, published by Mary Quiggin,

204 THE DENHAM TKACTS.

1835, is this Manks proverb: ''■' Ny three geayghyn o' feaysey
dennee Fion M'Cooil

Geay hennen, as geay huill,
As geay fo my shiauilL"

Which I understand to mean —

The three coldest winds that came to Fion M'Cooil,
Wind from a (haw, wind from a hole.
And wind from under tlie sails.
Campbell's Pop. Tales of West Highlands, Introd. xli.J

VI.

A COLLECTION OF WESTMOEELAND RHYMES, PRO-
VERBS, AND SAYINGS, CHIEFLY RELATING TO
THE OLDEN TIME.

The Westmoreland Hercules.

Eicliard Gilpin Avas infeofFed, in the reign of King John, in
the lordship of Kentmire Hall, by the Baron of Kendal, for
his singular service and deserts, both in peace and war. It is
told of this Westmoreland worthy that he slew a Avild boar,
that, raging in the mountains adjoining, much endamaged the
country people, whence it is that the Gilpins in their coat-arms
give the boar.

" I confess this story soundeth something Romanza-like.
However, I believe it, partly because so reverend a pen (Bishop
Carleton) hath recorded it, and because the people in these
parts need not to feign foes in their fancy Bears, Boars, and
Wild Beasts, who in that age had real enemies, the neighbouring
Scots, to encounter.^' — Fuller.

Pray for the soul of Thomas Parr, Knight,
, Who was Squire of the Body to King Henery the Eight.

The above, or similar verses, were formerly in a beautiful
window of painted glass in Parr's Aisle, in Kendal church, and
were demolished by the Cromwellian soldiers.

206 THE DEXHAM TKACTS.

Trotttbeck has Three Hundred Bulls, Three Hundred
Constables, and Three Hundred Bridges.

A pretty fair number of each truly, for a small district, in
so very small a county ! The township and chapelry of
Troutbeck, in the parish of Windermere, is divided into three
divisions called Imndreds,* each of which has six hundred
cattle-gaits, of two acres each, on the extensive common, and
each hundred has a common bull, constable, and bridge.
From these three incidents arose the above witty and singular
saying.

Hugh Bird, the Troutbeck giant, was, according to the tales
of tradition, a man of wonderful strength and appetite. At the
building of Kentmere Hall he lifted a beam which ten men in
vain tried to move, On occasion of Lord Dacre sending him
with a message to the king, he astonished the royal household
by eating up a whole sheep to his dinner, having previously
ordered it to be cooked for him, under the name of " the
sunny side of a wedder."

Varia :

Let Titer Pendragon do what he can.
The River Eden will run as he ran.

Let Pendragon do what he can,
Eden will run where Eden ran.

The river Eden runs at no great distance on the east side of
Pendragon Castle, near Kirkby Stephen. On the other side of
this castle are great trenches, which look as if Uter Pendragon,f

* Ten families make a tything ; ten tythings make a hundred.

f Pen — this word simply means anything great or exalted.
Dragon — a governor or dictator of the ancient British period, com-
mon in the north of England and south of Scotland.

WESTMOEELAND RHYMES, PEOVEEBS, AND SAYINGS. 207

the founder, had intended to draw the waters into them, and
80 encompass it with a moat. But the attempt proved in-
effectual, and gave occasion to the above extremely ancient
rhyme still popular with the inhabitants of this county. A
gentleman of the name of Longstaffe (a native of the county),
who made a tour in the year 1766, and left a MS. account
thereof gives us the following variorum reading : —

Let sly Pendragon do all he can,
Old Eden will run where first he ran.

As OLD AS Knock Cross.

A Westmoreland comparison, bespeaking extreme antiquity.
Parallel with the above is that of Canny Newcastle, to wit —
is"asawde [old] as Pandon Yatts [gates]." Knock, anciently
Knock-Shalock, is a pretty good village, in the parish of Long-
marton, [There is another Knock's Cross to which the saying is
also applied on the Roman wall near Bowness in Cumberland.
Knock's Cross is a barrow-like object close by the sea shore. —
Bruce's Wallet-Book of the Roman Wall, p. 2 15. J

Here the King Westmer,
Slew the King Kothinger.

In Tlie Complaint of Scotland, an ancient romance is men-
tioned, under the title of " How the King of Estmureland
married the king's daughter of Westmureland '^ [" quhou the
kyng of est mure land mareit the kyngis dochtir of vest mure
land"]. Again in the Scots Ballad of Fause Foodrage men-
tion is made in the first verse of King Easter and King Wester,
who were probably petty kings or governors of Northumber-
land and Westmoreland. But it is again supposed the Est-
mureland and Westmureland can have no relation to North-

208 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

umberland and Westmoreland, as the former was never called
Eastmoreland, nor was there ever a king of Westmore-
land, unless we credit the authority of the above rhymes, cited
by Usher, in his Antiquities of the British Churches, p. 303,
wherein that learned prelate says that jNIarius, a petty king of
the Britons (in the 1st and 2nd century), defeated Roderick,
the Eothinger of the rhyme, a Pictish general from Scythia,
upon the mountains now called Stanemoor ; in memory whereof
Eei, Eere, or Roy Cross was erected ; and from him that part
of the kingdom was called West-maria, or Marius land.

In Kyng Horn are Eastnesse and Westnesse, which Sir
Walter Scott says still exist in Yorkshire. In the French
original Westia is said to be the old name of Hirland or Ireland ;
and, if so, Eastmureland must be England.

Kendal Green.

This colour, which has grown into a proverb, was a favorito
and a fashionable one in the 16th century. It was a kind of
foresters' green. Shakespeare, in his play of Henry TV.
makes Falstaff say : " But as the devil would have it three
misbegotton knaves in Kendal green came up at my back and
let drive at me." [Kendal green is the livery colour of ihe
Earl of Home, and also the favourite colour of Robin Hood and
his followers.]

Eighty-eight wor Kirby feight ;

When niver a man was slain ;
They yett their meat, an' drank their drink,

An' sae com.e merrily lioani again.

After the abdication of James II. in the year 1688, a rumour
was spread in the North of England, that the abdicated
monarch was lying off the Yorkshire coast, ready to make

WESTMORELAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 209

a descent, with a numerous army from France, in hopes of
regaining his lost throne. This report gave the Lord Lieutenant
of Westmoreland an opportunity of showing his own and the
people's attachment to the new order of things. He accordingly
called out the posse comitatus, comprising all the able-bodied
men from 16 to 60 years of age. The order was obeyed with
alacrity, and the inhabitants met armed in a field called Miller's
Close near Kendal, from whence they marched to Kirkby
Lonsdale, and so " Com merrily hoam again." This historical
fact explains the meaning of the abore popular rhyme, which
at this day is not generally understood.

Let men and sliools* do what they may,
The Lowdore will wash Brougham away.

The river Lowdore, when swollen by winter floods, sweeps
with such impetuosity against the lowlands in the Brougham
estate, that the county people foretell its ultimate destruction in
the above old rhyming couplet.

The Lowdore, or Loder, falls into the Eimont, near Penrith,
on the borders of Cumberland. Leland says, "At Burgham,
is an old castle that the common people say doth sink."

Auld John Lowther, of Lowtber ;

If ye had twea kine,
He wad let ye keep nowther :

T' devil of owther !

Perhaps this rhyming saying may refer to Sir John Lowther,
who in the year 1666 obtained a grant of all the ungranted
lands, within the district of Whitehaven, in order to prevent all
opposition to his intended series of operations in the neighbour-
hood of that town for the working of his coal mines, and the
transit of shipping of the produce. Li the year 1668, he

* Shools, i.e. shovels.
P

210 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

obtained a further accession of property by the gift of the whole
sea-coast for two miles northward, between higli and low water-
mark.

It is easy to imagine that these extensive gifts and grants
would cause great dissatisfaction, and be the means no doubt of
ousting numbers of poor families who, together with their
ancestors, had doubtless occupied the lands (of which they
were thus dispossessed) for centuries — without perhaps the
payment of the most trifling sum in the form of rent.

KoBiN THE Devil.

During the civil wars, two of the family of Phillipson, a
family of some note in this county, an elder and a younger
brother served the king. The former, who was proprietor of an
island in Windermere Lake, commanded a regiment ; the latter
was a major. The major, whose name was Robert, was a
man of great spirit and enterprise, and for his many feats of
bravery had obtained among the Oliverians of those parts the
appellation of Robert the Devil. After the war had subsided
and the direful effects of public opposition had ceased, revenge
and private malice long kept alive the animosities of indi-
viduals. Colonel Briggs, a steady friend to usurpation, resided
at this time at Kendal ; and under the double character
of a leading magistrate and an active commander, held the
country in awe. This person, having heard that Major
Phillipson was at his brother's house on the island, resolved if
possible to seize and punish a man who had made himself
so particularly obnoxious to his party. With this view he
mustered a party which he thought sufficient, and went him-
self on the enterprize. How it was conducted my authority
does not inform me; whether he got together the navigation
of the lake, and blockaded the place by sea, or whether ho
landed and carried on his approaches in form. Neither do we

I

WESTMORELAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 211

learn the strength of the garrison within, nor the works with-
out ; though every gentleman's house was, at that time, in some
degree a fortress. All that we learn is that Major Phillipson
endured a siege of eight days with great gallantry ; till his
brother, the colonel, hearing of his distress, raised a party and
relieved him.

It was now the major's turn to make reprisals. He put

himself, therefore, at the head of a little troop of horse and

rode to Kendal. Here, being informed that Colonel Briggs

was at prayers (for it was on a Sunday morning), he stationed

his men properly in the avenues, and, himself armed, rode

directly into the church. It probably was not a regular church,

but some large place of meeting. It is said he intended to

seize the colonel and carry him off ; but as this seems totally

impracticable, it is rather probable that he intended to kill him

on the spot, and in the midst of the confusion to escape.

Whatever his intentions were they were frustrated, for Briggs

happened to be elsewhere. The congregation, as might be

expected, was thrown into great confusion on seeing an armed

man on horseback make his appearance among them, and the

major, taking advantage of their astonishment, turned his horse

round and rode quietly out. But, an alarm being given, he

was presently assaulted as he left the assembly, and being

seized, had his girths cut and he was unhorsed. At this

instant his party made a furious attack on his assailants, and

the major killed with his own hand the man who had seized

him, clapped the saddle, ungirthed as it was, upon his horse,

and vaulting into it rode off at full speed tlurough the streets of

Kendal, calling on his men to follow him ; and he with his

whole party made a safe retreat to his asylum on the lake.

The action marked the man. Many knew him, and they who

did not, knew well from the exploit, that it could be no one but

Robin the Devil.

p2

212 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Here I, Thomas Wharton, do lie,

With Lucifer Tinder my head,
And Nelly, my wife, hard by,

And Nancy as cold as lead.
Oh ! how can I speak without dread !

Who could my sad fortune abide,
With one devil under my head

And another laid close by my side.

The above safciricul epitapli was written on Thomas, Lord
Wharton, who, with his two wives, lies buried in the Wharton
aisle, or chapel, in the chancel of Kirkby Stephen church.
The genuine epitaph runs thus: —

^' 1, Thomas Wharton, lie here ; also my wives, Eleanor on
the one side, and Ann on the other. ! earth take back thy
own, our flesh and bones. ! bountiful God, retake these our
souls to heaven. The Wharton family gave me birth, and my
right hand victories against the Scots. Honour to my wife
Eleanor, whom the family of Stapleton gave me, and made me
father of six children. Death snatched two from me in their
infancy, two in youthful years, the remaining two bear the
names of my ancestors. My second wife, Ann, is of the
illustrious family of Shrewsbury."

The witty rhymester's idea of Lucifer under the head of his
lordship is supposed to have arisen from the horrid image of a
bull's head which is displayed upon the said tomb, and which
forms a portion of the arms of the once noble family of
Wharton.

I pray God to shorten

The days of Lord Wharton,
And put his son up in his place.

He'll drink and he'll whore,

And ten thousand things more.
With as good a fanatical face.

When the second Lord Wharton was a youth, he was

WESTMOEELAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS, 213

remarkable for his dissolute life ; his father, on the contrary,
was a rigid Presbyterian. At an entertainment given by the
old lord to a number of friends the young one was desired to
say grace, when, turning up the whites of his eyes, he in a
sanctified tone repeated the above verses. The old nobleman,
who, being very deaf, heard not one word of this filial prayer,
very devoutly closed it with, " Amen, I pray God ! "

Kii'by Bells and Brough Rtots,
Musgrave Pans, and Warcop Pots.

A rhyming comparison on the relative merits of these four
neighbouring sets of church bells. Brough is the only one that
requires any elucidation. Of these bells there is a tradition that,
" long and many years ago," a gentleman of the name of
Brunskill, resident upon the western extremity of " Stane-
more's wintry waste," sold a whole herd of nolt, and with the
proceeds purchased a set of bells for the church of his native
parish ; therefore without any great stretch of imagination, the
rhymester is fully justified in calling those individual bells,
" Brough Stots."

The bells at Kirby Stephen, four in number, are generally
allowed to be of very superior tone. Those of the two other
places will be found pretty true to the rhyme.

The following is another version of the story about the Brough
Bells.

" In the church are four excellent bells, by much the largest
in the county, except the great bell at Kirkby There. Concern-
ing these bells at Brough, there is a tradition that they were
given by one Brunskill, who lived upon Stanemore, in the
remotest part of the parish and had a great many cattle. One
time it happened that his bull fell a bellowing, which in the
dialect of the country is called cruning (this being the country
word to denote that vociferation) whereupon he said to one of

214 THE DENHAM TEACTS. . .

his neiglibours, * Hearest tliou how loud this bull crunes ? If
these cattle should all crune together, might they not be heard
from Brough hither ? ' He answered ' Yea/ ' Well, then,'
says Brunskill, ' I'll make them all crune together.' And he
sold them all, and with the 'price thereof he bought the said
bells (or perhaps he might get the old bells new cast and made
larger). There is a monument in the church in the south wall,
between the highest and second windows, under which it is said
the said Brunskill was the last that was interred." — Hone's
Table Booh, i. col. 817.

There's Beswiok's Kye rowting.

In the Chronicles of Westmoreland^ published by a humble
bard, we find that " one Beswick, a lifter of cattle, was return-
ing over Brough Fells with some kye he had stolen " during
the good old times when meum and tuum were totally unknown
to the bold Border reivers, and on their making a great rowting
{i.e. bellowing) he promised in his heart to make their voices
heard over hill and dale for many a long year, that folks should
remember Beswick's raid. He kept his vow, and transformed
the kye into a fine set of bells^ which adorn the steeple of
Brough Church, and when the country people hear Brough
bells ringing they exclaim, " There's Beswick's kye rowting."
Sheldon's Minst Eng. Bord., p. 237.

Whether the " humble bard," Mr. Sheldon, or the printer is
in error as to the reiver's surname, I cannot say, but the current
tradition of the neighbourhood gives the '' honour and credit "
to master Brunskill as related in the previous illustration, A
highly respectable local family of this (the latter) name only
became extinct on the spear side some 70 or 80 years ago,
who, I hesitate not to assert, were descended from the above
individual of belj-ringing and kye-rowting celebrity.

WESTMOKELAND KHTMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 215

I liave been bullied by an usurper, and I have been neglected by a
court ; but I will not be dictated to by a subject. Your man shan't
stand.

Lady Ann Clifford, Countess Dowager of Pembroke, Dorset,
and Montgomery; Baroness Clifford, Westmoreland, and
Vesey ; High SheriflFess by inheritance of the county of West-
moreland, and lady of the Honour of Skipton in Craven, is
distinguished among women for her learning, unbounded
generosity and high spirit. An instance of the last she nobly
displayed, to Sir Joseph Williamson, Secretary of State to
Charles the Second, who wished to force a member into Par-
liament for her borough of Appleby. Her majestic reply to
his discourteous command was, " I have been bullied by,"
etc. Neither did he ! [She died in 1676.]

Hercules killed Hart-a-greese,
And Hart-a-greese killed Hercules.

When Edward Baliol, King of Scotland, visited Robert de
Clifford, in 1333, it is said they ran a stag by a single dog, not
a greyhound, but a staunch buckhound, out of Whinfield Park
to Redkirk, in Scotland, a distance of 60 miles, and back again
to the same place, where being both spent the siag, exerting his
last powers, leaped over the park pales, but fell dead upon the
ground ; the hound, attempting the same leap, fell back and
died on the contrary side. In memory of this (almost) impro-
bable circumstance, the heads of the stag and dog were nailed
upon a hawthorn tree in Whinfield Park, and although the tree
has disappeared for ages, the locality is still known by the name
of Harts-horn Tree.

" Mr. Lancelot Morehouse (Westmoreland) told me a story
that somewhere in that north country, upon an oke, were fixt
a stagges horn, which in processe of time grew into the oke ;

216 THE DENHAM TEACTS.

the oke liad inclosed the roote of them ; but he had seen the
stumps which weather and time had curtailed. The tradition
was, that a greyhound had coursed the staprge a matter of 30
miles, and at this place the stagge and greyhound fell down
both dead, and in a plate of lead was writ thus :

Here Hercules kill'd Hart-of-grease,
And Hart-of-grease kill'd Hercules."

An,hreij in MSS., 144 vo. and 145 vo.

Another author says : " The horns were nailed upon a neigh-
bouring oak, and grew as it were naturally in the tree, till the
army broke one in 1648 ; the other was broken down in 1658.
The tree is gone, but the root is not entirely obliterated." —
Beauties of England and Wales, 1817.

The dog's name was Hercules, and both he and his equally
long-winded opponent still live in tradition and the above trite
couplet. [Hart-leap Well of Wordsworth, five miles from
Richmond, in Yorkshire, is a somewhat similar story.]

NlNEKIRKS.

The following paragraph is extracted from the Carlisle
Journal, 1837 : " Earl Spencer has been staying at Brougham
Hall, with Lord Brougham, a few days. On Tuesday the
noble lords attended divine service at Nine-Churches. The
noble lord was highly delighted with the scenery surround-
ing Brougham Hall."

The parish church of Brougham is pleasantly situated on the
south bank of the river Eimont, three miles east of Penrith. It
is dedicated to St. Ninian, and from this circumstance it is
popularly known by the name of Nine-Kirks or Nine-Churches.
A foolish tradition, however, exists, that the waters of the
Eimont or Eamont washed away no fewer than eight churches
ere the said naughty waters allowed this, the ninth, to stand.

WESTMORELAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 217

Curtven's Card, the Knave op Clubs.

Curwen was a native of AVestmoreland and Archbishop of
Dublin. In Queen Mary's reign, a commission was sent over
to Ireland to persecute the Protestants with fire and faggot.
The bearer of these unchristian-like orders stopt one night at
Chester, and his host, a true Protestant, having got an inkling
of the nature of his journey, stole his commission, and in place
thereof inserted the knave of clubs. Some short time after he
arrived in Dublin and lost no time in laying his orders before
the Archbishop and the Privy Council ; Avhen lo ! on opening
the packet, nothing presented itself but a dirty and worthless
old card ! He returned with all speed to England for a renewal
of the orders, but although he made all haste on his second visit
to Ireland, the Queen's death took place before his arrival, and
the poor Protestant people were preserved !

RARE AND POPULAR RHYMES, PROVERBS, SAYINGS,
CHARACTERISTICS, &c. &c. RELATING TO CERTAIN
TOWNS AND VILLAGES IN THE COUNTY OF WEST-
MORELAND.

If rain is stirring it's sure to find its way to Wet-Sleddale.

Wet-Sleddale, a narrow dale in the parish of Shap, environed
by lofty fells and moorlands. It has not its name without
sufficient reason.

Stenlcreth Mill, Wild Boar Fell, and Kissing Hill,
Kaber Rigg, Sower Pow, and Coffin Brigg.

A curious topographical couplet, formed of the genuine names

218 THE DENHAM TBACTS.

of six places in the immediate neighbourhood of Kirkby
Stephen.

High Eookby,

Low Eookby,

And Eookby-S earth :

Lockford,

And Ladford,

And bonny Coat -Garth,

A rather euphonious classification of the names of six farm-
steads, also in the neighbourhood of Kirkby Stephen.

The Helm is up.

In the mountainous parts of this county, towards the N.W.,
a very remarkable phenomenon frequently appears, called the
Helm-wind. A rolling cloud, sometimes for three or four days
together, hovers over the mountain tops, the sky being clear in
other parts. When the cloud appears the country people say
the Helm is up. The word helm is of Saxon origin, and pro-
perly signifies a covering for the head. This helm is not dis-
persed or blown away by the wind, but continues its station till
a violent hurricane comes roaring down the mountain, ready to
tear all before it. Then, on a sudden, ensues a profound calm ;
and then again, gradually the cloud gathers on the mountain,
and the tempest alternately ensues. This tempest, however,
seldom extends into the country beyond a mile or two from the
bottom of the mountain. The helm-wind is common to Cum-
berland as well as Westmoreland.

It is also spoken of a person in a furious passion.

You MUST DO AS THEY DO IN DeNT ; WHERE THEY DO AS THEY
CAN WHEN THEY CANNOT DO AS THEY WOULD.

An extremely rural and wild district in Westmoreland
bordering upon a river of the same name.

WESTMORELAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 219

When Knipe-Scar gets a hood,
Suckworth may expect a flood.

The hamlet of Knipe is in the parish of Bampton. Sackworth
is the name of a field in the same parish.

Applbby.

1. The Church hes low,

And the Castle stands high ;
'Tis a very bonny place,
And the Eden runs by.

Note.—" Though "Westmoreland hath much of Eden running
through it, it yet hath little of delight therein." — Fuller.

2. Who has any land in Appleby ?

The above query is generally put to the person at whose door
the bottle stands, or who does not circulate it in due time.

" How lies the land ? " " How stands the reckoning ? "

As CRAFTY AS A KeNDAL FoX.

Excerpit out of an oulde balade in print : —

There be many foxes

That goe on two legges,
That steal greater matters

Than cocks, hennes, and egges ;

To catch many gulls

In sheepos clothing they goe,
They might be destroy'd,

But I know what I know.

In the county of Durham we can also boast of a right
knowing one of this name, viz., Bishop Fox, of whom Lord

220 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Bacon observes that he was *' a wise man, and one that could
see through the present to the future."

Egdale for sour milk,

Eosegill for whey ;
Banton for a bonny lass,

At ony time o' day.

Egdale and Rosegill, or Eossgill, are hamlets in the parish of
Shap.

The Kent and Keir,

Have parted many a good man and his mere (mare).

The Eiver Can, Ken, or Kent, rises in Kentmere, and after
passing Kendal, flows southward to the vicinity of Milnthorpe,
and falls into the ocean in the Bay of Morecambe. At Kents
Bank resides a guide who conducts travellers over this part of
the bay. The office of guide has been held by a family of the
name of Carter during several generations. The original salary
of £10 a year has been wisely augmented to £20 ; the gratuities
of travellers, however, help to add materially to the annual
value of the situation. It is not only the duty of the guide to
conduct travellers over the dangerous sands and shifting
channels, but likewise to watch their almost daily changing
jDositions, etc. A small island called Holme situated at the
mouth of the Kent, is said to be " sometimes in Lancashire,
and sometimes ib Westmoreland " owing to the stream, whidi
divides these counties, occasionally changing its course from the
east to the west side of this valueless piece of land. (See
Whitaker's Hibt. of RichmondsJiire,ip. 300.) The Kere or Keir,
is first mentioned by Leland ; he says, " Half a mile from
Warton I passed over Keri river, cumming out of the hills
not far oflF, and then ebbing and flowing." The Kere runs
through the parish of AVarton in the county of Lancaster.

WESTMOKELAND RHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 221

In tliis looalit}' are two waterfalls, which make a hideous
noise ; one at Mihithorpe, the other at Levins, on the liiver
Ken, about five miles south from Kendal. By these the people
foretell the weather, for when that at Levins soundeth clear,
they say it betokeneth fair, and when the clearer sound is at
Milntliorpe, it showeth approaching rain and mist.

Stenkrith Mill where the Devil grinds Mustard.

Stenkrith Bridge and Mill are both within a short distance
of Kirkby Stephen, and here the River Eden forms several
foaming cataracts, which fall to a considerable depth amongst
numerous broken and impending rocks with round water-
worn holes in them, fi'om one foot to three or four yards in
diameter, and from one foot to a depth which has never been
fathomed by mortal eye. The deepest of these is known by the
name of Cow-Carnell Hole, from a cow belonging to an
individual of the name of Carnell having had the mishap to fall
into it. Both above and below the bridge the waters insinuate
themselves into fissures of the rock, where forming subterraneous
channels they rush forward with such fury and noise, that the
country people tell you if you will only apply your ear to the
rock or ground in such and such places, which they point out,
you will hear his majesty of the infernal regions grinding
mustard in his mill ! Some have supposed that the Druids
selected this awful yawning gulpli of solemn shade and solitude,
as a place of worship, and perforated many of the holes in the
rocks to increase its horrors.

Wild Westmoreland.

This alliterative characteristic is to be met with in Drayton's
Foli/olbion, Song 33.

222 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Epitaph in Kendal Church.

Here lyotji the body of Mr. Ralph Tirer, late Vicar of Kendal,
Bachelor of Divinity, vfho died the 4th day of June, 1627.

London bred mee, Westminster fed mee,

Cambridge sped mee, My sister wed mee,

Study taught mee, Living saught mee.

Learning brought mee, Kendal caught mee,

Labour pressed mee. Sickness distressed me,

Death oppressed mee, The Grave possessed mee,

God first gave mee, Christ did save mee,

Earth did crave mee, And Heaven would have mee.

The above epitaph was composed by the worthy vicar him-
self. This tomb is placed in the choir of the above named
church, and the inscription is worthy of the reader's perusal
on account of its quaintness and yet uncommon historical
precision.

Epitaph in Brough Cemetery, Garth.

Tho : Gabetis, Esq.

The Wise, The Eloquent, The Jvst.
Lyes here interred amongst y^ Dust
Below : Who forty years and more
Was Sheriffe. Nowe is Heavens store.
Was fresh and understanding too.

At 86 as Those That Woo

When Death w"' Croaked Syth and Glass
Sett out y*^ Bovnds he shud not Pass.
Saint like his Sickness. And his Death
Admir'd by All : his Parteing Breath
Soe Sweet As Might Perfvme yc Earth.
Dovbtless y't Spotless Sovle of his
Is Gone Into Eternal Bliss.

Obiit 25 die Martii
Anno salvtis 1694.
CVerbatim copy, taken 1 March, 1830.)

WESTMORELAND KHYMES, PROVERBS, AND SAYINGS. 223

Wise as the Westmoreland Jury, who found a man guilty of
Manslaughter who was tried for stealing a Grindstone !

This, if true, lias its parallel in a verdict returned, not many-
years ago, in the Court at Durham, where the jury brought in
a verdict of "justifiable homicide " against a prisoner who was
tried for a common assault. This monstrous verdict gave the
poor fellow a legal acquittal. This is an absolute and positive
fact, and the writer begs leave to add, that he had the honour (?)
to be personally acquainted with more than one of the twelve
learned jurors ! !

A Kendal Stockinger.

Any littlQ thick-set bossy fellow is so called. The following
illustrative dialogue once upon a time occurred at Barnardcastle
in the Bishopric : —

Q. What does purdy mean !

A. A little throssan up thing like a Jack at Warts.

Q. What's that?
A. Something like a lime burner.
Q. What is a lime burner ?
A. Oh ! nobbifc a Kendal Stockener.
Q. What is that ?
A. A little thick-set fellow.
See Brockett's Glossary of North Country Words, vol. ii., p. 83.

The Lowthers buy, but never sell ;

The family of Lowther of Lowther Castell.

This opulent family possesses immense landed property in the
counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland. The whole of these
manors and estates have been acquired peu et peu, partly by
purchase and " partly by other means," as the West Countrie
folks give you leave to infer. Their invariable rule has been,

224 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

from a very early age, never to sell, always to buy ; and being
at all times lucky in their purchases, they have raised themselves
to what they now arc, one of the richest and most powerful and
honourable families in the north of England.

The Lucky- Lowthers.

A plain, truth-telling old proverb says, '' 'Tis better to be
born lucky than rich," but the family of Lowther have had the
double blessing of being born both rich and lucky !

As Great a Thief as B . . P , who stole the bolt off

HIS ow\ back-door.

This saying, strange as it may appear, had its origin in an
absolute fact. Although the party alluded to was a person of
independent means, yet still he was unfortunately seized with
a mania, which prevented the true distinction of meum and
tuum to a most notorious extent. The bolt was on the door of
the house of one of his farm-tenants, and watching his oppor-
tunity he stole it to place it on the door of one of the out-
buildings in his own occupation, thus leaving his tenant to
barricade the door of his manse as best he could, it being left
not only boltless but lockless also.

Stowgill, tweea miles ayont t'world's end.

Stowgill is a farmstead on Stanemore, in the parish of
Broug-h.

Door-head Inscription.

Thomas Sandford, Esquyr,
For thys paid meat and hyr.
The yeare of our Savioure,
Fifteen hundrethe seventy-foure.

The above quaint yet valuable inscription appears over the

WESTMORELAND nHYMES, PROYERRSj AND SAYINGS. 225

gate of Askham Hull, near Penrith. The manor of Askham
■was possessed by tlie above family from the reign of Edward
III. till 1724. It is an oblong turretcd building, and was
re-edified or greatly enlarged in 1574, at which time the
written stone was inserted in the place it yet occupies.

The old manor-house is now converted into the rectory-house
of Lowther parish.

The Orton Boggle, a Ballad.

Time—Blackell Murry Neet.

Wey ! Gwordie lad has te been up to Worton,

T' see the queer tricks that's at Cowper House dnin ?
Fwolk say that tlie gwhost of an a^Yde witchcraft doctor,

Turns aw wrong seyde up ev'ry day about nuin.
A carvin'-knife jamp at a parson when pray in',

He up and mead off leyke the shot of a gun.
His ATalkin'-stick lap boldly out o' the corner,

And joined by his hat quickly efter him spun.

The cistern began to rwoar out leyke a Kanter,

The clock knock'd the great rammin' keale-pot about,
The snap-teabels clanked off a Westmoreland whornpipe,

An' t' brush gev the kettle a bang on the spout.
The ^Yarmin'-pan ran ravin' mad to t' pump-trough.

The pvvokers hopp'd lishly about on the chairs,
T' awde wife's Sunday hat went leyke leetnin' up t' chimley.

An' t' coppy-stuil jamp leyke a cat up the stairs.

The awde heir-lume kirn walk'd t' et' haw quite compos'dly.

And danc'd " Cross the Buckle" and " Leatherdy Patch,"
An' t' awde kitchen fender waltzed round like a madman,

Then lap wi' the fire-showl reet through the thatch.
Twea bacon-flicks fell wi' a clack on the flooriu'.

And roll'd roun' the house leyke ttvea blin' drunken men ;
Then t' cwolly-dog crap anunder the ass-grate.

Ant' sairy tom-cat whe'a ncabody's seen sen.

Q

226 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

The cafiF-beds com rowllin' down stairs all together,

Ant' awd carv'd yek wardrobe fell flatt on the fluir ;
Young Jwohn's hairy trunk flew reet into the dairy,

And aw the milk vessels bang'd out at the duir.
The worn-out cheese-press was dung ower wi' a bowster,

The seape-dish rush'd out o' the house in a crack,
A wood-box threw knives leyke an Indian juggler.

Ant' dishes and pleates danc'd leyke mad i' th' rack.

Big piles through the rufe in com droppin' like hailstones,

And brattles leyke thunder Avere frequently heard ;
Till in drop't frae Pearith sley Scott, Slee and Eayson,

When t' " Awde wborny Gentleman " nivver yence stirred.
The truth sune crap out, 'twas but witchcraft pretensions.

The servant lass tell't how the story was raised,
The mistress sune cut down the field leyke a racer,

For leykest of ought, just a woman gaane craz'd.

Now ! ye whea put faith in sick stwories o' witchcraft,

Leuk back to the reign o' King What's-his-neam,
When deeth was the end of ow seek leyke professors,

An' mony breet folk t' the gallows were ta'en.
Ye biggots o' Worton, an' other bit hamlets.

Be shammed o' yoursells, I think it full teyme ;
For whea wad hae tliowt t' hear tell o' seek doin's,

In the year eighteen hundred and forty and nine.

VII.

RARE AND POPULAR RHYMES, PROVERBS, SAYINGS,
CHARACTERISTICS, REPROACHES, ETC., RELATING
TO THE INHABITANTS OF CERTAIN TOWNS AND
VILLAGES ; AND ALSO TO PARTICULAR FAMILIES
AND INDIVIDUALS IN NORTHUMBERLAND.

Percy Rhymes, etc.

1. Harry Hotspur — tlie Fiery Hotspur — Hotspur Mars— the
Hotspur of the North. [Hetspur, Hector Boethius.']

A son who is the thtme of honour's tongue.

Play of He7i. IV.

Henrv, Lord Percy, born 20 May, 1363 or 1364, was the
eldest son of Henry, first earl of Northumberland. At an
early age he displayed those martial talents which have im-
mortalised his name in history as one of England's greatest
chieftains. At the coronation of Richard 11. he was knighted.
At the age of fourteen he spread his banner at the siege of
Berwick, " doing so valiantlie that he deserved singular com-
mendation." His furious and undaunted zeal against the
enemies of his country obtained for him the name of Hotspur.
Of this name he was no little proud, and both friend and enemy
adopted it as his sirname. In 1386 he was made Governor of
Berwick, and Warden of the Marches towards Scotland. In
1388 he encountered the Scottish forces at Otterburne, where

Q2

228 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

he slew Earl Douglas with his own hand. In the reign of
Henry IV. he was appointed sheriff of Northumberland. The
heroic Hotspur, whose mother was a Neville of Raby Castle,
fell in the battle of Shrewsbury, 21st July, 1403.

Holinshed, in his Chronicles of Ireland , pp. 97, 101, uses the
expression " an headlong Hotspur."

2. You're none of the Hotspurs.

Made use of when accusing a noisy braggadocio, be he soldier
or civilian, of cowardice.

3. The Percys' profit was the Lucys' loss.

This doubly alliterative saying is alluded to by Master Fuller
in his Worthies of England. It is likewise noticed in the
Metrical Chronicle of the Family of Percy ^ Earls of Northumher-
la?id, by William Peeris, clerke and priest, and secretary to
Henry Y., Earl of Northumberland, circa 1500.

Then afterwards Margaret the P Nevells daughter his second wife

married hee
by whom hee had issue three sones whose names bee
henry the eight, ralph the second, and the third thomas.
margret dyed and after her as fortuned the case
hee married maud countesse of anguesh his therd wife
whicli mother was to elizabeth his first wife
and by the said maude forthwithall
the lord lucy lands by her guift came to him all.
Soe this noble man if yee wisely regard
had faire lands and possessions greate

first by elizabeth the daughter, and by maude her mother afterwards,
of the wch noe lawe may his heirs defeate,
of this matter it needeth noe more to treate
the viitli henry was the first earle and his creation
of king richard the second day of his coronation.
The said lady maud lucy as I understand

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 229

married herself conditionally to the foresaid

seaventh henry first earl of Northumberland

as to say that the lord pearcy should beare continually

the blew lion and the lucies silver in his armes quarterly

her name he might not take, issue none had shee

therefore she Did bind him to beare her armes as in his armes yea

may see.
The honour of Cockermouth, came by her, shee gave it freely
to him and his heires as by the Lawe she might
bearing the foresaid armes of her in memory
w^** the blew Lyon the Braband armes quarterly.

4. Henricus Percy
Hie Pure Sincerus,

An anagram, from Camden's Remaines on Henry Percys Earl
of Northumberland. " Upon which with relation to the crescent
or silver moone was framed this —

" Percius Hie Pure Sincere, Persia Luna
Candida tota micat, pallet at ilia polo."

5. Stirps persitina periet confusa ruina.

That is, '' the Percy race shall perish in one confused ruin,
A.D. 1408." " The Erie of Northumberland and the Lord Bar-
dolfe, after they had been in Wales, in France, and Flanders, to
purchase ayde against K. Henrie, were returned backe into Scot-
land, and had remayned there nowe for the space of a whole yeare,
and as theyr evill fortune woulde whilest the Kinge helde a
counsell of the Nobilitie at London, the saide Earle of North-
umberland and Lorde Bardolfe, in a dismoll houre, with a
greate power of Scotts, returned into Englande, recovering
diverse of the Earle's castles and seigniories, for the people in
great numbers resorted unto them. Hereupon, encouraged

230 THE DENHAM TKACTS.

witli hope of good successe, they enter into Yorkshyre, and
there began to destroy the countrey. At their coming to
Thersk, they pubHshed a proclamation, signifying that they
were come in comfort of the English nation as to relieve the
Commonwealth, willing all such as loved the liberty of their
countrey to repayre unto them with their armor on their backes,
in defensible wise to assist them. The king advertised thereof,
caused a great armie to be assembled, and came forward with
the same towards his enemies, but yer the king came to
Nottingham, Sir Thomas, or (as others have) Sir Rafe Rokesbie,
sheriff of Yorkshire, assembled the forces of the countie to resist
the Earle and his power, comming to Grimbautbriggs, besides
Knaresborough, there to stop the passage ; but they returning
aside, got to Weatherbie and so to Tadcaster, and finally came
forward to Bramham Moore, near to Haizelwood, where they
chose their ground to fight upon. The sheriffe was as readie
to give battell as the Erie to receive it ; and so with a standard
of St. George spread, set fiercelie upon the Erie, who, under a
standard of his own armes, encountered his adversaries with
great manhood. There was a sore encounter and cruell conflict
betwixt the parties, but in the ende the victorie fell to the
sheriffe. The Lord Bardolfe was taken but sore wounded, soe
that he shortlie after died of his hurts. As for the Erie of
Northumberland he was slain outright, so that now the
prophecie was fulfilled which gave an inkling of this his heavie
hap long before, namely : —

Stirps persitina periet confusa riiina.

For this Erie was the stocke and maine root of all that were
left aliue, called by the name of Persie, and of manie more by
diverse slaughters dispatched. For whose misfortune the people
were not a little sorrie, making report of the gentleman's
valiantnesse, renowne, and honour. His head, full of siluer

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 231

horle haires, being put upon a stake, was openlie carried
through London, and set vpon the bridge of the same citie ; in
like manner was the Lord Bardolfe's." — Hollinshedj 1577.

G. Henry the Unthrifty.

Henry Algernon Percy, sixth Earl of Northumberland, was
so called on account of his alienation of vast numbers of the
entailed estates of the family, under the act of Henry VIIL,
which the king got passed purposely to reduce the feudal power
of the English barons. This act wrought its purpose in the
above nobleman to that extent, that he condescended to write
Secretary Cromwell to solicit the appointment of the captaincy
of Berwick-on-Tweed, promising a vail of 1000 marks. After
this he alienated to the king in fee his house at Petworth, and
other lands in Sussex, his lands in Middlesex, and large estates
in Lincolnshire, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Somerset-
shire, &c., &c. Li the same session another Act was passed
settling upon the king, in case of failure of issue, all the other
lands belonging to the earl. The extreme difficulties of the
earl led him no doubt thus to dispose of the inheritance of his
ancestors, and to trust to the honour and generosity of the
crown for their restoration at a future period. Having acquired
the appellation of Henry the Unthrifty, he expired, together
with all his accumulated titles, 30th June, 1537, most probably
of a broken heart, in consequence of beholding the ruin of his
house. On the accession of Mary to the throne, however, " the
waned crescent of the Percies " again " filled its horns."

7. Lord Northumberland's Arms.

Grose, in his Classical Dictionarji of the Vulgar Tongue^
notices this curious saying, sub voce '' Northumberland," the
plain meaning of which is a black eye. Notwithstanding
numerous researches and inquiries, I have never been able to

232 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

meet with any explanation, or even suggestion, wliicli fully
satisfied me as to its origin ; and I take it simply to be a very
poor pun upon the sirname of Percy.

See an extremely ingenious theory on the above saying in the
form of a note on the " Percy Badge and Cressawnt," pp. 369,
370, vol. 1, of the St. James's Magazine, by ^Mr. W. Hylton
LongstafFe.

8. In Exaltatione Lunac Leo siiccumbet, et Leo cum Leone
conjugetur, et catuli eorum regnabunt.

This "old blind Latin" prophecy may be translated thus: " At
the exaltation of the moon (which was the rising of the Earl of
Northumberland, that giveth the moon in his shield of arms) ,
the lion (which is the Queen's Majesty) shall be overthrown ;
then shall the Hon be joined with a lioness (which is the Duke
of Norfolk with the Scottish Queeii, for they both bear lions in
their arms), and their whelps shall reign, i.e., their posterity
shall have the kingdoms."

9. The Proud Percys.

In the ancient ballad of the Battle of Otterhurne, we read : —

Awaken, Douglas ! cryed the knyght,

For thou maiste waken wyth wynne ; \

Yonder have I spyed the prowde Percy,
And seven standardes wyth hym.

As regards the " potential " and " peerless " properties of
this not only "patrician" but "princely" and "powerful"
family, their position in the North of England during a period of
more than six hundred years, must be permitted to speak more
in their praise than I dare presume, without being chargeable
with promulgating positive flattery ; and as to the characteristic
of pride, it were an easy matter to quote parties who were only,

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 233

as it were, enobled yesterday, whose vanity of position, and
pride of ancestry, exceed that of '^ the Percy " a thousand fold.

" Like all powerful families in feudal times, the Percys
occasionally basked in the smiles of courtly favour, or felt the
withering influence of royal jealousy. At one time their kings
wrote them ' his right trustie and well-beloved cousin ' ; and at
another ' traytor ' and ' arch-enemie ' were the terms employed.
Like themselves, their place of strength underwent the varied
changes incident to a troubled age and dangerous locality.
This day its gates were open to give noble welcome to guest
and traveller ; and the next would find them closely barred to
repel the threatened onslaught of the besieger." — Maxwell's
Hillside and Border Sketches.

10. I have saved the bird in my breast.

The brave Sir Ralph Percy (fourth son of Henry, Earl of
Korthumberland, who was slain at the battle of St. Albans, 22nd
May, 1455), joined the standard of Queen Margaret, and in her
cause encountered the army of Neville, Lord Montagu. During
the contest he was abandoned by the Lords Hungerford and
Eoos, his companions in arms; and the gallant Percy, and a
great number of his faithful followers and attendants, fell
bravely fighting on the field of battle, performing wonders to
the last. When the " trustie " Percy was dying, alluding to
his oath to Henry VI., he exclaimed, '' I have saved the bird
in my bosom." Such were the dying words of this illustrious
chieftain of the Percy race.

IL Percy Slogans, or War Cries.

1. Percy ! Percy !

2. A Percy ! A Percy !

3. Esperance Percy !

4. A Percy, Esperance !

5. Thousands for a Percy !

234 . THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Fenwick Ehymes, &c.

But he, the chieftain of them all,
His sword hangs rusting on the wall,
Beside his broken spear.

.1. The Fierce Fenwicks.
2. The Warlike Band of Fenwick.

The ancient and clearly earned characteristics of the heroic
family of Fenwick. This family, which is unquestionably of
Saxon origin, takes its name from the fastness in the fenny
grounds in the parish of Stamfordham. Their ancient place of
residence was the Pile, Tower, or Castle of Fenwick. The right
of this bold Border family to the designation of ' ' fierce " is recorded
by contemporary poets, chroniclers, and historians, and also
handed down by tradition. Grafton, in his Chronicle, relates as
follows : " A.D. MDXXiv, the fift daye of July, Sir John a Fen-
wicke, Leonard Musgrave, and Bastard Heron, and divers others,
gathered together ix hundred men and entered into Scotland, in
the countrye called the Marche, and robbed and spoyled all the
countrie, and by chaunce the same season the Scots had assembled
ii M. men to invade Englande, and none of these knewe of the
other tyll they by adventure met together. Then began a strong
medleye, for the Scottes fought valliantly a great while, and the
Englishmen them hardly assayled, and at last, by fine force,
caused them to leave the grounde and flie, and in the fight were
taken ii c. Scottes and many slaine, of which the prisoners divers
were gentlemen. Sir Eaufe of Fanwicke, Leonard Musgrave,
and Bastard Heron, with xxx other Englishmen well horsed,
followed so far the chace that they were past rescues of their
company, which perceyving, the Scottes sodainly returned and
set on the Englishmen, which, oppressed with the multitude,

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 235

were soon overcome, and there was taken Sir Eaufe a Fanwicke,
Leonard Musgrave, and syx other, and Bastard Heron and
seaven other were slayne, the remnant by chaunce escaped ; the
other Englishmen with their ii c. prisoners returned safely into
England. The slaiyng of the Bastard Heron was more pleastire
to the Scottes than the taking of the ii c. was displeasure, they
hated him so."— jEcZ. 1580.

In the fierce conflict which ensued at the Warden Meeting of
the Eedeswire, Sir John Forster, Warden of the Middle Marches,
some of the Fenwicks, and several other Border Chiefs, were
taken prisoners to Dalkeith, where they were detained several
days and then dismissed with sundry presents.

" In the reign of King Charles I., Col. Geo. Fenwick (of
Brinkburn) was in the service of Parliament and Governor of
Berwick-on-Tweed. Cromwell, on taking Edinburgh, 1650,
made him governor of that place also. He summoned the
governor of Hume Castle to surrender to Cromwell. The
governor answered, he knew not Cromwell, and for his castle, it
was built on a rock. The ordnance playing against it, he sent
Fenwick these verses ;

I, William of the Wastle
Am now in my Castle ;
An' aw the dogs in the town
Slian'd garre me gang down.

Breaches were made in his castle and many rich goods spoiled:
Gallant William was forced to surrender (Feb. 13, 1651) ; the
soldiery were ordered to share the goods, except some furniture
and bedding for the accommodation of his lady." — Wallis.

The above rhyme, with trifling variations, is used to this day
in the south of Scotland. A boy standing upon a hillock defies
the efforts of others to dislodge him, exclaiming by way of
challenge :

236 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

I, Willie Wastle,

Stand on my castle ;

And a' tlie dogs o' your toon

Will no drive Willie Wastle doon.

The " Willie Wastle " of history was " one Jhone Cock-
burne." — Chambers, Pop. Rhy. Scot.

During the governorship of Col. Fenwick, and under his
direction, Berwick Church was built, and his remains were
interred therein 15 March, 1656.

Slogan.

3. A Fenwyke ! A Fenwyke ! ! A Fenwyke ! ! !

[Although the author makes several remarks here, the
subject has already been sufficiently illustrated. See on
Slogans, ante.~\

4. To teach one the way to Wallington.

When any one has a splendid hand at cards, and is beating
easily, he is said to be teaching his antagonist the way to Wal-
lington. The origin of the saying is, I believe, forgotten, I
mean so far as the above application goes. In all probability
it is only a comparatively modern variation of the following
ancient cry :

5. Show me the way to Wallington.

This old cry, as I may call it, had its rise from the princely
hospitalities of Wallington ; indeed, the immense kindness of
the family was so proverbial that it forms the subject of local
songs. Show us [v. me] the way to Wallington is an old and
favourite air in the neighbourhood. Lovers of good cheer are
often induced to exclaim in the above words when discoursing
on the pleasures of the table.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 237

The following quatrain is supposed to be a fragment of the
song alluded to : —

Dear billy Sam, show rae the way to "Wallington ;
I have a grey mare o' my ain, she ne'er gies owre

a-gallopin ;
Down by Bingfield Came (Comb), and in by the banks

o' Hallington,
Through by Baavington Syke — and that's the way to

Wallington.

[Tliis, which I sent to Mr. Denham, was obtained from an
old man who, in his youth, had lived near the place. It is a
rhyme, sung to the tune of " Show me the way to Wallington,"
by nurses dandling children on their knees, and I do not suppose
it was ever anything else. Bingfield Comb is a farmsteading.
Hallington Hall is a gentleman^s seat. Bavington Syke (pr.
Baavington) is probably a marsh passed in olden time near one
of the places called Bavington, neither of them far from the
present public road. — J. H.]*

6. The wine of Wallington old songsters praise :
The Phoenix from her ashes Blacketts raise.

Cheviot, a Poem, p. 14.

Wallington was possessed by the Fenwicks through a long suc-
cession. It was purchased by the second Sir William Blackett,
whose father, an alderman of Newcastle, was created a baronet
1673, and died 1680.

Wallington has from an early period been proverbial for its
hospitality^ and none of its magnificence was found to abate in
the change of ownership.

The Phoenix named in the second line alludes to the Fenwick

* Converted into a recent song, " Show me the way to Wallington,"
which may be found, accompanied with the small pipe music, in The
Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore and Legend, 1890, pp. 421-2.

238 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

crestj and is intended as a pun on Fenwick ; and as the crest
alludes to the surname of the family, so does the motto,

Perit : ut : vivat,
allude to the crest.

7. Harnham was headless, Bradford breadless,
And Shaftoe picked at the Craw ;
Capheaton was a wee bonny place,
But Walliugton bang'd them a'.

Harnham is in the parish of Bolam, 10^ miles W.S.W. of
Morpeth. " On the black day of November 2, 1653, the House
of Commons resolved that the name of Thomas Winkle, of
Harnham, be inserted into the Bill for the sale of estates
forfeited to the Commonwealth for treason." His son, Thomas
Wrinkles or Winkles, of Ford^ sold the house and land.
Harnham anciently belonged to the Babingtons. — Hodgson's
Hist, of Northumberland, vol. i., part ii., p, 345.

The Craw, in line two, evidently alludes to the Crasters,
anciently Craucestre, who were rapidly getting the estates of
the Shaftoe family into their possession ; and were, as a con-
sequence picked at by the junior branches of that family.

Capheaton, in the parish of Kirkwhelpington, a place of some
beauty, is the mansion of Sir John Swinburne ; and has been
for many generations a possession of the family. It contains the
best private library of any gentleman in Northumberland.

Fair Wallington has been decreed by fate
To be the capital of a large estate.
' Cheviot, a Poem.

Wallington is in the parish of Hartburn.
[It came into the possession of the Fenwicks by marriage,
and was sold in the latter part of the 17tli century to Sir
William Blackett, by Sir John Fenwick, Bart., who, for the
crime of high treason, was condemned and beheaded on Tower
Hill, London, 27th Jan., 1696.]

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 239

8. If you give your horse tlie bridle, he'll carry you to Wallington.

The above, wHch used to be a common expression in North-
umberland, with reference to the hospitalities of Wallington,
proves that the Fenwyke kindness extended not to man alone —
his beast also partook of a well-filled rack and manger.

9. Sir John Fenwick's the flower amang them.

The name of the old clan tune of the Fenwyke. Although
the names of but few of these tunes and songs have descended
to us, there is no question but that every feudal lord and war-
like sept (those of the Borders more especially) had its own
peculiar gathering march, or battle song ; to which was
attached its equally peculiar family tune. These tunes are
described as being " stately and animating, rising often to a
degree cf fury." As in Scotland, so also in Northumberland,
the favourite musical instrument was the pipes, which instru-
ment is singularly adapted for the pibroch — a species of martial
music proverbial for its wild and impassioned notes. These
clan tunes were used with the greatest efi*ect when marching to
the battle field.

The music of the Fenwyke war song is preserved in MS., but
the words I fear are lost. Mr. John Fenwick de Novo Castro
super Tinam, one of the " knightly family," informs ine that
he had heard his mother sing the song when he was a child.
He also says that the town waits of Hexham used uniformly to
play the tune at his father's door.

Fama : Semper : Viret.

10. Fenwick of By well's away to Newmarket,
Away to Newmarket, away to Newmarket ;
Fenwick of Bywell's away to Newmarket,
And he'll be there before we get started.

This old jingle is curious, inasmuch as it is the only instance

240 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

of a nursery rhyme which involves a local sirname and residence
that, at present occurs to me. [I procured this from the same
party from whom I noted down the rhyme in No. 5. William
Fenwick, Esq , of By well, was a noted sportsman, whom I find
mentioned at different dates from 1758 to 1771 ; and he lived
probably later than that, for in 1790 a "long main" (cock-
fighting) was fought at Hexham, between the Duke of
Northumberland and Mr. Fenwick, and another main the
same year at Alnwick, between the Duke of Northumberland
and Charles Grey, Esq. (the late Earl Grey) , jointly, and Mr.
Fenwickj of By well.* The verses cannot be older than the end
of the eighteenth century. — J. H.]

Gathering Ode of the Fenwick.

The slaughtered cliiefs, the mortal jar,
The havoc of the feudal war,
Shall never, never be forgot.

By purchase and by marriage with some of the principal
families in Northumberland, the Fenwyke obtained large
possessions, which from the unsettled state of the times
required the protection of military power.

The late Mr. William Richardson, of North Shields, pub-
lished the following " Gathering Ode " in one of our local prints
several years ago. Mr. Richardson supposes an inroad of the
Scots to have taken place in the absence of the Percy in
Palestine, and that this ode, in the manner of the Highland
pibroch, Avas used by the Fenwicke to repel them. He
"respectfully inscribed it" to a descendant of the ancient

* Hand-book to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, by Rev. Dr. Bruce, p. 102.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 241

warlike band of Fenwicke (viz., Mr. John Fenwick, Newcastle).
The notes arc Mr. Richardson's.

Pipe of North iimbria sound !

War pipe of Alnwick !
Wake the ^yild hills around,

Summon the Fenwick ;
Percy at Panim * war,

Fenwick stands foremost ;
Scots in array from far.

Swell wide their war-host.

See, fierce from the border,

Wolf-like he rushes ;
Drives southward the Warder ;

Gore-stream forth gushes ;
Come spearman, come bowman.

Come bold-hearted Truewicke;
Repel the proud foeman ;

Join lionJike Bewicke.f

From Fenwick and Denwicke,

Harlow and Hallington ;
Sound bugle at Alnwicke,

Bagpipe at Wallington ; |
On Elf Hills § th' alarm wisp, ||

Smoulders in pale ray ;
Maids, babes that can scarce lisp,

Point trembling the bale way.

* Or Paynim — the Crusade, f Names of clans or families, the
retainers or vassals of Percy and allies of Fenwick, descendants of
whom exist to this day. if Hamlets in Northumberland. § The
Hills of the Fairies, near Cambo ; Sir John de Cambo kept a Avatch
on these and the neighbouring eminences. || A wisp of straw or
tow, mounted upon the point of a spear, and set on fire when a raid
took place. When this portentous ensign was carried through the
Border country, all must instantly fly to arms. It was the *• hot-trod."

B

242 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Leave the plough, leave the mow,

Leave loom and smithie ;
Come with your trusty yew,

Strong arm and pithy ;
Leave the herd on the hill,

Lowing and flying ;
Leave the vill, cot and mill,

The dead and the dying.

Come clad in your steel jack,

Your war gear in order.
And down hew or drive back
. The Scot o'er the Border ;

And yield you to no man ;

Stand firm in the van-guard ;
Brave death in each foeman,

Or die on the green-sward.

[11. *' Insignis et illustris Fenwickorum progenies."]

To OR MAY TAKE HeCTOR's ClOAK.

That is to deceive a friend wlio confides in your fidelity.
When Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was defeated in
the rebellion he had raised against Queen Elizabeth, he hid
himself in the house, of one Hector Armstrong, having con-
fidence he would be true to him; who, notwithstanding, for
money betrayed him to the Regent of Scotland, 1569. At the
period of this event Hector was living at Harelaw, in the town-
ship of Paston, five miles west of Kirknewton ; and it was
observed that from being a comparatively rich man, he suddenly
became poor ; and was besides so generally hated, that he durst
not go abroad ; insomuch that the above proverb is continued to
this day in Northumberland (and has spread itself through the
whole of England) , in the sense above mentioned.

[" Hector of Tharlowes hedd was wished to have been eaten

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATmG TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 243

amongst us at supper." — Sadler's State Papers, Edin., 1809,
ii., 384, 388. Mr. Denham's notice is from Mackenzie's
Northumberland, i., p. 375. Both have mistaken Hector Arm-
strong's residence, which was at Harlaw, in the precincts of
Liddesdale, and not tlie Northumbrian Harelaw. — J. H.]

If they come, they come not :
If they come not, they come.

The cattle of the people living on the Borders turned into the
common pasture, did by custom use to return to their homes at
night, unless intercepted by the freebooters of the Scottish
Borders. If, therefore, these Borderers came, their cattle came
not ; but if they came not, their cattle surely returned. In
reality, this old saying is a Border riddle. [I procured this
saying at Wooler. In the Scotsmari's Library, however, p. 136,
it is cited as a Border motto, to mark the incessant vigilance
with which the Borderers guarded their castles. — J. H.j

Amicus Amico Alanus,
Belliger Belligero Bellinghamus.

Sir Alan Bellingham, son of Richard Bellingham, of Belling-
ham Castle, was treasurer of Berwick, and deputy warden of
the marches, in the reign of Henry VIII. The above distich
alludes to Sir Alan's disposition, which was to be friendly to
his friends, and ever ready to fight his foes.

The Courteous Collingwoods.

The characteristic of one of Northumbria's patrician families.
This enviable epithet is to be met with in the ballad of the Raid
of the Reidsioire. [Horsley sa3^s of the last of the Collingwoods
of Eslington, who lost his life and estate for participating in the
rebellion of 1715 : " His fate was generally lamented and

r2

244 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

pitied, he himself having had the character of an inoffen-
sive, peaceable gentleman." — Horsley's Northumberland, p. 54.
Edited by Mr. Hodgson- Hinde.]

EOBIN OF ReDESDALE.

This ancient cognomen, which has now attached itself to a
gigantic figure cut upon a large rock within half a mile of the
Roman station of Risingham ; was originally given to one of the
family of Umfraville, lords of Prudhoe. It was also at a later
period given to one Robert Hilliard, a friend and follower of
the king-making Earl of Warwick. This person commanded an
army of Northamptonshire and Northern men, who seized and
beheaded without judgment the Earl Rivers, father to Edward
the Fourth's queen, and his son, Sir John Wood\^ille. See
Holinshed, ad annum 1469. [There were more Robins of
Redesdale ; but neither they nor the last quoted have any con-
nection with the Northumbrian vale of the Rede or Reed. In
1468-9, Sir William Conyers, Knight, " whiche called himself
Robyne of Riddesdale," headed a great insurrection in York-
shire, Warkicorth Chronicle, p. 6 ; also J. 0. Halliwell in
Archceologia, xxix., p. 138. At Richard the Third's corona-
tion, 4th July, 1483, "he had sent for five thousand men out
of the north ; who came to London, under the leading of
Robin Riddersdale." Baker's Chronicle, p. 226. — See another
account of Conyers' insurrection, Slogans, ante.^

Robin Mend-Market.

At the foot of Yevering Bell, and a little to the south of the
village of Yevering, is an upright stone, about twelve feet high,
where Sir Robert Umfraville, popularly known by the name of
Robin Mend-Market, defeated a party of Scots in 1415. In 1410,
Sir Robert Umfraville took fourteen Scotch ships with his ten
English in the Firth of Forth, and took and burnt Peebles on

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 245

the fair day, " where he caused his men to mete cloth with their

bows."

" At Pebles long afore that time iiii yere,
He brente the towne upon their market daye,
And met theyr cloth wit speares and bowes sere.
By his bidding without any naye ;
Wherefore the Scottes, from thence forthward ay,
Called him Robin Mendmarket in certayn,
For his measures were so large and playn."

Harding's Chronicle.

Other authorities say he derived the name from the corn and
cattle which he got in his frequent inroads having the popular
effect of lowering the prices of provisions in the Northumberland
markets. Indeed a passage in Harding himself lends some
countenance to the notion.

" With his prises he came to Englande,
Full of cloth, woollen, and lynnen that land to amend,
Pytche and tarre both, for fre and bond,
For to amende the shepes of our lande ;
Floure and mele of whete and rye he solde
The market he so mended manyfolde."

[The standing stone at Yevering, in a field on the north side
of Yevering Bell, belongs to a much earlier period than Umfre-
ville's exploit. Another stone at the south-east end of the hill,
near a tumulus, is now prostrate. A similar monument near
Humbleton, said to memorialise the Battle of Homildon, was
found to be associated with British remains. Two fine bronze
celts were obtained near the Humbleton Stone. All these three
stones are noticed in Materials for the History of Nortliurriber-
land, by the Rev. John Horsley (1729-30), privately printed by
Mr. Hodgson Hinde, p. 12: "Two of these are in Yeavering
grounds, at a distance from one another, which a countryman
told me was set over one that was murdered or had destroyed

246 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

himself. This traditionary story may have arose from its being
a sepulchral stone of some kind or other. I saw another such
between Akeld and Wooler, like the four stones in Eadnor-
shire."— J. H.]

Umfreville and Estoteville,

The Wyville, and the Tancarville,

All cam here wi' Norman Will.

A traditional rhyme which has the valuable aid of history to
confirm its truth. The second and third families settled in
Yorkshire. Robert de Estoteville, or Stuteville, was lord of
Knaresborough, 1556. This family is now I believe, in the
male line, quite extinct. The Wyvilles remain to the present
day a highly respectable and opulent Yorkshire family. The
Umfrevilles (once a powerful Northumbrian family) are now
lowered to an equality with the common herd of mankind. Mr.
William Umfreville, keeper of St. Nicholas Workhouse, New-
castle-on-Tyne, died 17th November, 1789. He had in his
possession a sword which belonged to Sir Robert de Umfreville,
Vice-Admiral of England, about the time of Richard II. Mr.
Umfreville died in extreme poverty, leaving a widow and one
son.

It is highly probable that the identical sword possessed by
Mr. Umfreville was that with which the first Northumbrian
ancestor of the race was knighted and invested by his kins-
man William the Conqueror to hold by the tenure of defending
Redesdale from enemies and wolves. Tradition says that this
was the sword which King William had by his side when he
crossed the Tyne. " Died in the Friars, Newcastle, 10th June,
1850, aged 90, Mr. John Umfraville, shoemaker. Deceased
was the last male descendant of the celebrated Umfravilles of
the county of Northumberland, formerly lords of Harbottle and
VrndoG.^^-^ Durham Adv. Newspaper .

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 247

Like as the brand doth flame and burn,
So -we from death to life should turn.

An old rhyme, or motto, of the Brandling family, whose
crest is an oak tree in flames— perhaps a Border beacon — the
name first occurring on the Border as burgesses of Berwick on
Tweed. This family had been seated at Gosforth, near New-
castle, since the early part of the sixteenth century. — [From
Sharp's BisJioprick Garland.~\

As fat.se as the Ha's, on the false-hearted Ha's {i.e. Halls).

This saying, or rather characteristic (peculiar to Redesdale),
alludes to the murder of Parcy Reed at Batinghope on the
River Reed. The murder, it appears, was plotted by a family
of brothers of the name of Hall, who, under the mask of
friendship, got him to go with them on a pretended hunting
expedition, when he was deserted by his false friends, and
murdered by a band of Croziers, with whom the Halls were in
league. Tradition informs us that the fragments of Reed's
body were conveyed to his residence at Troughend in linen
bags. The name of Crozier became in consequence detested in
Redesdale, and their abettors were driven from their residence,
and the appellation " the fause-hearted Ha's" remains in force
against their descendants to the present day. See Sir Walter
Scott's Rokehy ; Roxby's Lay of the Reedwater Minstrel ; Local
Historians' Table Booh, i-^Qg- Div., vol. ii. pp. 361 to 3C9. The
ghost of Parcy Reed is still said to haunt Pringle Haugh and

the neighbourhood.

A Tweedale

A Eedesdale Eogue,
A Tindale Thief,
A Weardale Wolf,
A Teesdale Tupe.

I have an imperfect recollection of some ancient alliterative

248 THE DENHAM TllACTS.

verses, in character somewhat like the above, which I Avritc
down from memory, but dare not vouch for their correctness.

We will not lose a Scot.

That is anything, however inconsiderable, which we can
possibly save or recover. During the enmity of the two nations
the inhabitants of Northumberland had as little esteem and
affection for a Scots Borderer as the Scottish man had for him.
" Hit her hard, she's a Scot," is another old Border saying still
in use. It means give it her well, or give her no quarter, as
the Scots did to the English.

Elliots a;<;d Armstrongs ride Thieves all !

The Armstrongs appear to have been at an early period in
possession of a great part of Liddesdale and of the Debateable
Land. Their immediate neighbourhood to England rendered
them the most dangerous of the Border depredators, and, as
much of the country possessed by them was claimed by both
kingdoms, the inhabitants protected from justice by one nation
in opposition to the other, securely preyed upon both. The
rapacity of this clan and of their allies, the Elliots, occasioned
the above popular saying. (But to what Border family of any
note in former days would not such a saying be equally
applicable?) All along the River Liddle, or Liddel, may still
be seen the ruins of towers possessed by this clan. They did
not, however, entirely trust to these fastnesses; but when
attacked by a superior force, abandoned entirely their dwellings
and retired into morasses, accessible by paths known to them-
selves alone. One of their most noted places of refuge was the
Tarras Moss, a desolate and horrible marsh, through which a
small river takes its course. In this retreat the Armstrongs,
AD. 1558, baffled the Earl of Angus, when lieutenant on the
Border, although he accounted himself very skilful in winding
a thief. On that occasion, however, he was totally unsuccess-

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 249

full, and nearly lost his kinsman, Douglas of Ively, whom the
freebooters made prisoner. The kings of Scotland disowned
them as subjects.

" On that Border was the Arnistrongs, able men,
Somewhat unruly and very ill to tame.
I would have none think that I call them thieves,
For, if I did, it would be arrant lies."

Satchell's History of the Name of Scott.

The above author would gladly make it appear that a reiver
was not a thief. And yet,

" They sought their beeves that made their broth,
In Scotland and in England both."

Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel.

For the enterprises of the Armstrongs against their native
country when under English assurance, see Murdin's State
Papers, vol. i, p. 43. From these it appears that by command
of Sir Ralph Evers, this clan ravaged almost the whole of the
West Border of Scotland.

There is a story that a convicted moss-trooper of the clan
Armstrong, being promised his pardon on condition of dis-
closing the best safeguards to a house against his own fraternity,
gave the following information as his " fee," viz., " that a small
but vigilant dog within the house and rusty locks were the
greatest impediments to the housebreaker.^' Chambers* Pop.
Rhy. of Scotland, 3rd ed., p. 322. The above piece of valuable
information is thus thrown into Scottish rhyme: —

" A terricr-tyke, and a rusty key,
Were Johnie Armstrong's Jeddart fee."*

An Armstrong, who had his residence in Cumberland, was

* The true reading is :

" Yelping terrier,, rusty key
Was Walter Scott's best Jeddart fee."
See Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scott, p. 60, royal 8vo. edit.

250 THE DENHAM TBACTS.

popularly known by the name of '' Luck in the Bag." He, like
many more of his kith and kin, was a celebrated horse stealer.
On the Scottish Border the following saw is pretty general :
*' Like the Elliots of Swinside, water them well and they'll need
the less corn," i.e., give them plenty to drink and they'll eat
the less meat. Swinside is a small hamlet in the parish of
Oxnam, Roxburghshire.

Fuller, in his Worthies of England, p. 216, says, ** They (the
moss-troopers) come to church as seldom as the 29th of
February comes into the kalendar." He also gives us numerous
other particulars anent the olden race of Border worthies.
Lesley, however, tells us that though they might be rather
deficient in real religion they regularly told their beads, and
never with more zeal " than when going on a plundering
expedition."

The Northern Lion o'er the Tweed
The Maiden Queen shall next succeed,
And join in one two mighty states,
Tlien shall Janus shut his gates.

This rhyming prophecy relates to King James I. (of England),
who having been many years King of Scotland, the crown of
England by Queen Elizabeth's death fell to him ; whereupon
he came over the Tweed to take up his residence here, and so
joined the two kingdoms into one government. Janus (one of
the heathen gods) had a temple at Rome, the gates of which
were never shut but in a time of profound peace, alluding to
which custom is hereby made known the peaceful reign of King
James.

LoED Derwentwater's Lights.

James Ratcliffe, third and last Earl of Derwentwater, was
born in the year 1689. Of all the victims who fell a sacrifice to
the rash enterprise of 1715, none fell more lamented than the

POPULAR EHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 251

young and generous Earl of Derwentwater ; and his memory
will long continue to be revered in tlie sister counties of Durham
and Northumberland, where numerous instances of his affability
and beneficence are still related with the deepest feelings of
heartfelt sympathy and regret. He, along with the principal
leaders^ was beheaded on Tower Hill, 24th February, 1716.
No coffin being prepared, his head was wrapped in a napkin
and his body rolled in a cloak, and carried by a servant to the
Tower. His remains finally, by secret means, found their
resting place in the family burial place at Dilston. Many
wonderftd and miraculous circumstances are popularly believed
to have attended his death. In particular the Aurora Borealis,
which darted forth with remarkable brilliancy on the night of
his execution, is still known in the North of England by the
name of Lord Derwentwater's Lights ; and so extreme was its
vividness that some of his most zealous " partizans imagined
they saw in this novel appearance men without heads." —
Surtees' Hist, of Durham, i. xvi. cxx. " The ignorant peasantry
were not slow to receive the superstitious stories that were pro-
pagated on the occasion of the earl's death, and often has the
rustic, beside the winter's hearth, listened to the fearful tale of
how the spouts of Dilston Hall ran blood, and the very corn
which was being ground came from the mill with a sanguine
hue on the day the earl was beheaded." *

* There is an account of this Aurora in Horsley's Northumberland,
p. 21. They are thus alluded to in ColKns's Ode on the Superstitions
of the Highlanders, whence it appears that the belief in their being
a portent of a national calamity was not peculiar to Northum-
berland : — ^

'• As Boreas threw his young Aurora forth,
In the first year of the first George's reign.
And battles raged in welkin of the North,

They mourn'd in air, fell, fell rebellion slain." — J.H.

252 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

The Northern Lights, when first seen, were also called Merry-
Dancers and Burning Spears ; and to persons of imaginative
or superstitious mind they still convey the idea of clashing of
arms in a military fray.

RoDDAM Rhymes, etc.

While sheep bear wool,

And cows grow hair.
A Roddam of Roddam

For ever mair.

The Roddams are a very ancient British family, and upon
one of their old pedigrees is written the following grant in
Saxon characters : —

I, King Athelstan, gives unto thee, Pole Roddam,

From me and mine, to thee and thine,

Before my wife Maude, my daughter Maudlin, and my son Henry.

And for a certain truth,

I bite this wax with my gang tooth.

So long as muir bears moss and cnout grows hair,

A Roddam of Roddam for ever mair.

Again we have the following concession, " ad paulum Roydon,"
evidently a corruption of Boddam, also equally genuine, no
doubt : —

I, William, King, the third yere of my reign,

Give to the Paulyn Roydon Hope and Hope-towne,

With all the bounds both up and down

From Heaven to Yerth, fro Yerthe to Hel,

For thee and thyn there to dAvell,

As truly as this King right is myn.

For a cross bow and arrowe.

When I sal come to hunt on Yarrow.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 253

And in token that this thing is sooth,
I bite the wax with my tooth,
Before Meg, Maud, and Margery,
And my third sonne Henery.*

This method of impressing the wax of the seal with the
wang or gang tooth, is mentioned by Verstegan in his Restitution
of Decayed Intelligence, ed. 1605, p. 223.

In 1387, the Earls of Fife and Douglas, with Lord Galloway,
passed the water of Solway, and surprised Cockermouth, which
they plundered and returned to Scotland unmolested, through
Westmoreland and Northumberland. Amongst other writings
found by the Scots, whilst rifling the houses in the latter county,
in their expedition, was a third specimen of the art of con-
veyancing in the twelfth century, which, in equally artless and
simple rhymes, ran : —

I, King Athelstan, gives to Pallan

Ocham and Eodcham,

Als guid and als fayre

As ever they myn weare,

And yarto witness Maulde my wife.

[* Tlie original of this appears to be a supposed grant of
William the Conqueror to ** the Norman Hunter," to be found in
Stow's Chronicle by Howes, p. Ill, from the authority of a chronicle
" in the Library at Eichmont," as follows :^

" I, William, King, the third yeare of my raigne,
Giue to the Norman Hunter, to me that art both life and deerc,
The Hop and the Hopton, ?,nd all the bounds vp and downe,
Vnder the earth to hell, aboue the earth to heauen,
From me and from mine, to thee and to thine,
As good and as f»lre, as euer they mine were.
To witnesse that this is sooth, I bite the white waxe with my

tooth,
Before Jugge, Mawd, and Margery, and my yongest sonne Henry,
For one bow and broad arrow, when I come to hunt vpon
Yarrow."— J. H.]

254 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

The version in Forduni ScoticJironicon, ii. p. 403 (Goodal's
edition), is —

I, Kyng Adelstane,

Giifys here to Paulan,

Oddam and Eoddam

Als gude and als fair,

As evir thai myn war ;

And tharto witnes Maid my wyf.

[In Boethius {Scotorum Histories, Parisiis, 1575, fol. 311),
the diploma is given thus : " I, Kyng Adelstan, gevis heir to
Paulan, Odden and Rodden, als guyde and als fair as euir yai
mine wayr, and yarto witness Malde my wiiffe." Eobert.
regent of Scotland, commended its brevity, which contrasted
favourably with the verbiage and circumlocution customary in
deeds even of his period. — J. H.]

Quis fuit Alcydes ? quis Cajsar Julius ? aut quis
Magnus Alexander ? Alcydes se superasse
Fertur. Alexander mundum, sed Julius hostem ;
Se simul Oswaldus, et mundum vicit et hostem.

Camden gives the above ancient Latin distich on Oswald, King
of Northumberland, the glory of whose arms were not more
eminent than the fame of his wisdom. His lenity and benevo-
lence were proverbial ; the neighbouring nations regarded him
with reverence, and his people obeyed him with love.

Translation : —

Who was Alcydes ? Alexander who ?
Or Julius Caisar ? Let the first subdue
Himself", — the next the world, the last the foe ;
Oswald subdued himself — the world — the foe.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATINa TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 255

Prophecy.

Atween Craig-cross and Eildon Tree.

A bonny bairn there is to be,

That'll neither have hands to feight, nor feet to flee ;

To be born in England, brought up in Scotland,

And to gang hame to England again to dee.

This Border prophecy has been popular in the south of
Scotland from time immemorial. It is usually ascribed to
Alexander Peden, the Cameronian seer, but in reality is
believed to be of much greater antiquity. Be the author who
he may, the propliecy came true in modern days.

About the middle of the last century a boy was born without
hands or feet at Ballen Mill, near Falstone. His name was
Paterson. Soon after his birth he was removed to Falnash
Mill, near the head of the River Teviot, about eight miles
above Hawick. Here he was brought up. While yet a child
he was taken back to England with the rest of the family, and
died at Carlisle, aged seven years, thus completely fulfilling
every particular of the prediction, and thereby confirming all
the people who knew the circumstances in a belief of
Mr. Peden's prophetic powers. Chambers' Edinburgh Journal^
No. 61. [Richardson's Table-Book, Leg. Div. ii. p. 244.]

Agnus nok pardus ja.cet hic: Prior ecce Rioardus.
In English thus : —

A Lanrb not a Leopard lies here,
Behold it is Richard the Prior.

The epitaph of Richard, prior of Lindisfarne. He was
appointed in 1272, and appears to have died in 1285.

256 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Live ITawks for dead IJEr.oxs,

Sir George Heron, of Chipchase and Ford, had the misfor-
tune to be slain in the skirmish of the Raid of tlie Redeswire, to
the great regret of both parties, being a man greatly respected
by our Scottish neighbours as well as the English. When the
English prisoners M'ere brought to Morton, at Dalkeith, and
among other presents received from him were some Scottish
falcons, one of his train observed that the English were most
nobly treated, since they got " live hawks for dead herons." —
Godscroft.

Had not jMorton the old proverb in his mind, " He doesn't
ken a hawk fra a heron," when he made this offering to the
English prisoners? Other readings of this saw give Herousew
and Heronshaw, all of which have got vilely corrupted into
" Handsaw ! "

Nicholas Ridley, the Broad Kkight.

The above portly gentleman was of the family of Willimotes-
wick, in the township of Ridley, and parish of Haltvvhlstle.
According to Flower's Visitation of Northumherland, 1575, he
was married to Mary, the daughter or niece of Thomas
Musgrave, by Joane Stapleton, and is said to have been the
elder brother of Christopher Ridley, father of the Bishop of
London.

TllEUE NEVER WAS A OOOD GrEY WITH AN E IN HIS NAME.

Many families who bear this name spelt it Gray. The Greys
are characterised as a greedy race, and, according to the vulgar
creed, a greedy person cannot possibly be a good one.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO KORTHUMBERLAKD. 257

The Scaling Laddeii Greys.

Thomas de Grey, from 1319 to 1331, held the important post
of governor of Xorham Castle. By all he was considered wise
in council, and brave in the field ; being no less than twice left
for dead upon the field of battle. Of him we find it written : —
" That there never was such a man for cutting his way through
the midst of an enemy." He was at the battle of Roslin in
1302 ; at the siege of Stirling in 1304 ; at the battle of
Bannockburn 1314, where he was made prisoner. From the
gallant martial exploits of this famed warrior is obtained the
scaling-ladder, the crest of the noble family of Grey of Howick.
The term is used simply in order to distinguish the Howick from
the other Northumbrian families of the same name. E. W.,
the author of Cheviot, a poetical fragment, thus notices the tomb
of Sir Ealph Grey (1406-1443) in Chillingham Church.

Grey lies another Mars at Chillingham,
With scaling-ladders and a battering ram.

FOY EST TOUS !

Sir John Babington, of the Harnham family, acquired the
crest and motto of his coat armour by a desperate service under
King Henry IV. in France. On his own petition he was one
of the six young knights sent on this duty ; and on leaving the
royal presence he brandished his sword and exclaimed, " Foy
est tons ! " Their crest is a dragon's head, with the above
words proceeding from its mouth.

Lee Ha's to Edinburgh hinney
Lee Ha's *o Edinburgh gane ;
Lee Ha's to Edinburgh hinney,
To fetch robber Will o' the Kame.

Tradition says that a younger member of the Lee Hall family

258 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

resided at the Comb (Kame of the rhymes) and had got
incarcerated for want of a clear perception of the difference
between meum and tuum ; and that the chief of the clans made
a journey to Edinburgh to help him out of his difficulties.
This might almost be inferred from the stanza above given,
and it derives confirmation from the fact of the Comb having
remained in possession of the Charltons of Lee Hall to the
present time (1854).

Lowes and Leehall.

There was, perhaps still is, a ballad called Lowes atid Leehall,
which relates to a feud betwixt these two country keepers ; in
the reign of Queen Anne. The former was the keeper of South
Tyne, the latter of North Tyne. The particulars of this quarrel
are to be met with in Richardson's Table-Book^ under the
head of Frank Stokoe, a notorious freebooter. If it still exists
in any of the dales of Northumberland, " pity " it were such
particulars should be lost. The following stanza is supposed
to belong to this ballad : —

Leeha's to Edinborougli Willie,
Leeha's to Edinborough gane ;
Leeha's to Edinborongli Willie,
To catch rogue Will o' th' Kamc.

and if so, it has a birr about it, much like the opening of a
northern pibroch.

He rides like a Bambroughshire Laird.

That is, with one spur, and a stick or whip in his opposite
hand. Laird is a name given in Northumberland to a proj^rietor
of lands, without any relation to manorial rights. This proverb

POPULAR EHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 259

will remind the reader of the boastful rhymes of the Men of
Kent :—

1. A knight of Gales, a squire of Wales,
A laird of the North Countree ;
A Yeoman of Kent, with his yearly rent,
"Will buy them out all three.

2. English laird, German Count, and French marqui,
A Yeoman of Kent is worth them all three.

The Chief of Beaufront.

The villa of Beaufront a little to the south-west of the village
of Sandhoe, in the parish of St. John Lee, was long the property
and residence of the late John Errington, Esq., who died in
1818. Mr. Errington was remarkable for his eccentricities,
hospitalities, and charity ; and was facetiously called ])y the
country people, the Chief of Beaufront. [In Horsley's time
Beaufront was corruptly called " Beevram." " It has," he
says, " a pleasant situation, and a beautiful front, and deserves
the name it bears of Beaufront."]

Byker Hill and Walker Shore,
Collier lads for evermore.

I suppose that this distich insinuates that the principal
portion of the male inhabitants of these two places, have been,
are, and evermore will be, nothing more than collier lads.

To LEAP THE Well.

On St. Mark's Day, a^irants to the freedom of the borough
of Alnwick used to proceed, in great state and in equal spirits,
from the town to the moor, where they drew up in a body at
some distance from a water [through which they had to

s2

260 THE DENHAM TEACTS.

plunge] ; and on arrival at the spot, and a signal being given,
they scrambled with great difficulty through the deep and
noisome pit, or pool, which was filled with mud. It was about
GO feet in length. [This quagmire was dammed up fur the purpose
two or three days before].* Tradition says, that this strange,
ridiculous and filthy custom (rendered more ridiculous by being
performed in white clothing) was imposed by King John^ who
was bogged in this very pool while hunting. It is very pro-
bable that the ceremony might originate with this king, but it
is certain that the burgesses were incorporated long before his
reign.

Neck or Nought, as Johnny Wardle said.

It is to be understood that the aspirants to civic honours had
had their filthy dip, and were in full career back to canny
Alnwick. ^' From ' Tom Shadford's monument,' nearly the
highest ground in the l\Ioor, there is a continual declivity to the
Moor Burn ; yet down this steep the freemen ride furiously,
here among bogs and heather, there through whin-bushes,
sometimes among quarries, at others near to sand-pits. The
danger is considerable, especially to unpractised riders. Pro-
vidence must surely watch over the young freemen as carefully
as he does over children, for no fatal accident has ever thrown
a dark shade over the proceedings of the day. Often, it is true,
severe falls occur, six horses and their riders were on one
occasion, stretched at a short distance from each other on the
bare craggs, or plunged into the bogs of the ' Horse Close.'
One reckless, boasting freeman, has immortalised himself by
giving birth to a proverb : ' Neck or nought, as Johnny Wardle
said,' is applied to any des])erate undertaking ; for Johnny,

* Mark's Survey of Northumlerland, 1734, p. 84, Printed by Mr.
Hodgson-Hinde.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 261

mounted on a blood-horse, after clearing the ' Freeman's Gap,'
was galloping heedlessly down the hill, and repeatedly crying
out, ' neck or nought, neck or nought,' when lo ! horse and
rider dashed over into ' Paul's-rest Quarry,^ where, though he
escaped with life, the horse's neck was broken." Mr. George
Tate, Provincial Souvenir and Eastern Border Annual for 1846,
p. 169.— [Comm. by J. H.]

A HowDEN-PAN Cant.
That is, an awkward fall or overturn.

A HowDEN-PAN Canter.

Howden-pan, a popular village five miles east-by-north of
Newcastle. It appears that the residents in this district were at
one period, and that too not far distant, not very celebrated
for their equestrianship.

The Wise Folks o' Lokbottle.

The following anecdote would lead one to suppose that the
good folks of Lorbottle, a small hamlet near Rothbury, held
ideas very different from those of the ancients respecting the
causes of the seasons. In the wittenagemote of that com-
munity it was agreed that the cuckoo brought on the pleasant
time of summer, and that if she could be secured within a pin-
fold the storms of winter might threaten, and snell Boreas
bluster and howl without, yet the bland zephyr's wing would
ever fan the fresh young foliage in the groves of Lorbottle.
One particular plantation to which she was accustomed most to
repair, it was determined, in the resolutions of the simple
villagers, to environ with a wall, so as to render her stay
perpetual, and give her unquiet footsteps rest. The wall was

262 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

reared in haste and anxiety ; but alas ! the vanity of earthly
hopes, just as the wall was finished and a home prepared the
ungrateful and capricious bird flew quietly over the top, and
thus perished the fond hope of Lorbotte being blessed with a
never-ending summer.

It is, however, a cherished opinion among the ancients of the
place, that if the wall had only been raised a little higher the
darling project would have been achieved, and Lorbottle would
have become a paradise on earth. [This is taken from my
paper in llichardson's Table-Book, Leg. Div., iii., pp. 94, 95.
See also Folk-Lore Record, ii., p. 65.]

The Keaves o' Lorbottle (i. e. Coves op Lorbottle).

[The natives of this district are proverbial for their big, shape-
less feet, out-heels [laverock-heels], and turned-in toes. —
J. H.]

Like the Laird o' Butterburn.

Ye're like the Laird o' Butterburn — whatever is, is right.

— Old Northumberland Saying.

The Laird of Butterburn, unlike a great many country lairds,
some eighty or ninety years ago, was a great reader and quoter
of Pope, to the no small annoyance of his fellow lairds, who,
happy in their own ignorance, were content to get drunk six
times a week, without being bored to death with things so much
out of their road. It happened, however, that on a certain
market night, as the laird himself was returning home, like
Hobbie Elliot's father, '' wi' the maut a wee aboun the meal,"
he by some means tumbled from his horse into a deep ditch
nearly full of water. The cries of the poor laird for help at last
attracted one of his neighbours, who was returning home in
ynuch the same situation. " Halloo ! what's up now ? " hiccuped

POrULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 2tj3

out the neighbour. " Oh ! lend me a hand, and help me out ! "
cried poor Butterburn. " Oh, no ! " replied his heedless
acquaintance, turning away his horse's head, *' tumble away— =
whatever is, is right ! "

Prophecy.

In Pinkey's Cletigh a battle shall be fought, and a -widow's son, with
two thumbs on his right hand, shall hold the king's horse, until
England is twice lost and thrice won.

The above, with some other choice morceaux of like character,
which appear in the present volume, was in the most kindly
manner handed to me by a valued correspondent ; and, although
he designates it as a ridiculous fable, yet he says, " I can assure
you it is firmly believed in by a great many in that part of the
county. A good many years ago a child was born in that
neighbourhood with two thumbs on his right hand, and is still
living. I have frequently seen him ; his name is Nixon. On
this occurrence taking place, the whole of the population of the
district felt assured that the prophecy was on the eve of fulfil-
ment; but," he quaintly observes in conclusion, '^ it has not yet
taken place." See a similar prophecy, Chambers's Pop. Rhymes^
Scot, 3rd ed., 15, 16.

Pinkey's Cleugh is about six miles west of Haltwhistle, not
far from Hartley Burn.

[Pinken Cluch is the old name of the battle of Pinkie, in the
prophecies of Thomas the Rymer :

At Pinken Cinch there shall be spilt
Much gentle blood that day.

There are a variety of prophecies about this " three-thoomit
wicht " ascribed to '' True Thomas,"— J. H.]

264 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

As BOLD AS THE LaIRD o' WhINETLEY.

This saying, which is common in tlie wliole district of South
Tyne, originated in 1715. It appears that Manghan, the then
owner and occupier of WhinetJey, a farmstead (near Haydon
Bridge) in the parish of Warden, had joined the rebels under
the command of the unfortunate Earl of Derwentwater, and
after the surrender of the Jacobite party at Preston contrived to
make good his escape. On the second day after his return homo
two armed men entered his house and told him he was their
prisoner. " Never ! " exclaimed the laird, " while a drop of
blood warms my body ! " then seizing the huge kitchen poker
he felled them both upon the floor. He then immediately
saddled his horse and galloping off succeeded in making his
escape into France. The estate of Whinetley is still in the
possession of his descendants.

By my Faith, but ye're welcome, quoth Dicky o'

KiNGSWOOD.

Dicky of Kingswood, or Cunning Dick, as he was more
generally called (who lived in Staward Peel), was a noted
Northumbrian reiver, and entertained an opinion that takirig
life was unnecessary iii' plundering, except to those unacquainted
with their art. Many tales are told of Dick's prowess in this
department. The following exploit gave birth to the above
saying. Happening one evening to call at a country inn, he
found a number of farmers enjoying themselves over their cups.
Their horses, a dozen in number, were in the stable at the back
part of the house ; this Dicky had previously ascertained, and
he placed his own brood mare along with them. After con-
tinuing some short time at the inn he mounted his own grey

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 265

mare, Meggy, left tlie stable door open, and had not proceeded
far on his homeward journey ere he discovered the whole of the
horses in full gallop after him — " By my faith, but ye're welcome,"
cried Dicky — and the lucky thief got off clear with his booty.

To make the story more clear, it may be necessary to note
that the farmers' horses were what in common parlance we term
stallions, and this happening in the " spring time of the year,"
there was small need of a helping hand to unloose them.

For further exploits performed by this individual, see Local
Hist. Tab. Booh, Leg. Div. ii., pp. 17, 18, 19.

[From the style, this and the preceding appear to be con-
tributed by William Pattison, formerly of Bishopwearmouth
and Wolsingham. — J. H.]

Here lietli Martin Elphinston,
Who with his sword did cut in sun-
• der the daughter of Sir Harry Crispe,

who did his daughter marry.
She was fat and fulsome,
But men will some-
times eat the bacon with the bean,
And love the fat as well as the lean.

An epitaph said to be at Alnwick, but I could never see or
hear tell of it.

He's driving his swine to Mokpeth Market.

Spoken of a person who is not only enjoying a nap, but a
hearty good snore to boot.

Bright Star op Heaton.
This well-favoured epithet was used when speaking of

266 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Matthew Ridley, of Heaton, Esq. He died in the year 1778,
aged 66 years, and has a monument to his memory in the
church of St. Nicholas, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Heaton Hall, in
the parish of All Saints, is the mansion of the Ridley family.

Bright star of Heaton,
You're aye oiir darling sweet one ;
May heaven's blessing light on
Your lady, bairns, and you.

Local Song.

The Ridley family have long held a prominent position in the
favour of the good men of Newcastle ; high, low, rich, and poor
all speak in their praise. Sir Matthew Ridley, baronet, grandson
of the above patriotic gentlemen, was popularly called "canny Sir
]\Iatthev»'," and the never-ceasing prayer of Blind Willie, the
Newcastle minstrel, was "Sir MafFa ! Sir MafFa! canny Sir
Maifa!^^ "God bless Sir Maffa!" "Bra Sir MaflPa" was
another of Willie's frequently occurring forms or casts ^of
language. The designation of " Bright Star," &c., was also
given to Sir Matthew, grandfather of the late baronet, and I
have been told by a gentleman still living that he had seen a
fishwoman take up her apron, rub her mouth, get him in her
arms, and kiss him. He was a gay, open-hearted, kind man.

There's three bonny laddies live at the Cra' ha',
There's Mickey, and Mattey, an' Tomniy an a' ;
Its weary shearing at the Cra' ha'.
The days are sae lang, an' the wages sae sma'.

A correspondent informs me that this rhyme is peculiar to
Crawhall, in the parish of Haltwhistle. I find that in the reign
of Edward VI. this sirname was spelt Crawhaughe, and it is so
pronounced to this day throughout the county.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 267

Jimmy the Moudy
Maad a great crowdy.
Barny 0' Neal,
Fand all the meal :
Oad Jack Rutter
Sent twee steane o' butter :
The laird o' the Hot
Boild it in his pot :
And Big Tom o' the Ho',
He supped it o'.

Deil tak his guts, and that o' !

This rude specimen of border versification is said to allude to
a choice few of the old lairds and landlords of Haltwhistle, who,
in their day and generation, were famous not only for their good
eating, but also for their good drinking.

When Mr. Hutton, the historian (of Birmingham and Derby),
was in Cumberland in 1801, he stopped one night at a wayside
inn, known by the name of Twice Brewed, where he says he
saw a pudding turned out of the pot about the size of a " peck
measure, and a piece of beef out of the copper, perhaps, equal to
half a calf." This was for the supper of some fifteen carriers ;
and the provision proved none too large.

The Morpeth Butoheks' Welcome.

A story is told of a batch of these worthies who, after having
dined on beefsteaks almost to repletion, invited a bystander to
sit down to the residue, saying: "You're vary welcome, sae eat
your full ; there's mair nor we can eat."

[Perhaps " the Morpeth compliment" of James Service.]

A DUNSTANBOKOUGH DiAMOND.

A name popularly given to the crystals occasionally found

268 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

near Dunstanborough Castle, on the coast, and applied pro-
verbially to young damsels in that locality.

The Gowks o' Davy-Shikld.

Davy-Shield, a district to the north of Otterbourne. Robert
Roxby, the Reedwater Minstrel, has

Nor shall he pass the Seven Oaks,

The Hawk-gill and the Howks,
The Swine-hole fam'd for " ruthless pikes,"

And Davy Shiel for gowks.

[The cuckoo is intended. — J. H.]

The auld wives o' the Lee,
They canna weel see.
They tak up the bed clothes
And [lie] in the stree.

Spoken of the good wives of St. John Lee, a parish in the
liberty of Hexhamshire. The second word in the last line is
generally spoken variously.

Let us dearly them hold to mynde their worthynesse
That which our parents old hath left us to possesse.

The above verses are given over the arms of the ancient
family of Forster of Etherstone, now Adderstone, in the parish
of Bambrough. Vide Visitation of JS^orihumherland, 1575. A
version of this rhyme occurs on an old house at Alnwick.

To RIDE WITHERSHINS ROUND KeELDAR StONE.

V. '' Has ridden," &c.

The " Gout of Keeldar " was a powerful chief in the district
wherein the Keildar Castle is situated adjacent to Cumberland.
He was the redoubtable enemy of Lord Soulis, and perished in

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 269

an encounter on the banks of the Hermitage. Being encased
in armour he received no hurt in battle, but falling in retreat-
ing across the stream, his opponents, to their everlasting dis-
grace be it written, held him beneatli the water till lie was
drowned. That portion of the river where he perished is to
this day known as the Cout of Keeldar's Pool. A grave, too,
of gigantic size on the banks of the Hermitage, at the western
angle of a wall surrounding the cemetery garth of a ruined
chapel, is pointed out as that of the Chief of Keeldar.

The Keeldar Stone, wliicli no doubt received its name from
being the gathering place of the retainers of this powerful
northern chieftain, when on the eve of a foray with Scotland, is
still pointed out, and forms at this period a boundary mark on
the confines of Northumberland and Jed Forest. It is a rougli
insulated mass of considerable dimensions, and it is held
unlucky to ride or walk withershins three times round it. See
Leyden's ballad, " The Cout of Keeldar," Scott, Bord. Mins.,
iii. 288, Edin. 1821. Withershins, i.e. contrary to the course
of the sun.

The little priest o' Felton,

The little priest o' Felton,

He kill't a mouse within his house,

Wi' niver a one to helj) liira.

Being ignorant that this old rhyme is claimed eidier by
Herefordshire, Somersetshire, or Shropshire, 1 am (although
without the sh"ghtest authority) induced to give our northern
village the benefit of all the honours arising from the truly
heroic, though not bloodless, exploit of the little warlike vicar
of the olden time.

Tom ilka Day.
An honourable appellation bestowed on one of the ancestors

270 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

of tlie family of Burrell of Broome Park. The name implied
that he was ready, aye ready ! to turn out against the Scottish
thieves who honoured Xorthumberland with so many of their
visits in the good old times. See Surtees's History of Durham,
i., p. 166, [A very different explanation of the phrase is given
elsewhere. Tom himself was the thief.]

A TRUE BRED NORTHUMBERLAND.

[Mr. Cresswell, of Cresswell, gave the fisherman on his estate
a feast on the occasion of his entering upon his property
(perhaps his coming of age). He inquired of one of them wdiat
was his religion, the answer to which was, " I'se a true-bred
Xorthumberland. " There is a parallelism which is said to have
been uttered by a tenant of a late Duke of Northumberland as
to his political creed, but I forget the expression. — J. H.]

Brunt and scadded, like the Fairies o' Rothley.

At Rothley Mill there was a kiln for drying oatmeal, which
the fairies used to visit every night to make porridge. The
miller's lad one evening thought he would gar them loup, and
looking in at the top of the kiln and seeing them sitting round
their caldron stirring the porridge, he took up a stone, and
throwing it into the pot, the porridge flew about. The fairies
all jumped up, and every one of them crying " Brunt and
scadded ! Brunt and scadded ! " ran after the lad and over-
took him just as he reached a stile between the mill and
Kothley ; when one of them gave him a blow on the back, and
from that time he always went lame. [See another version in
Hodgson's History of Nortliumberland.~\

Soft in her side like the lasses o' Beli'ord.

From the above it would appear that the lasses of Belford arc
proverbial for a soft spot ; a term much used in the North of
England and figurative of intellectual weakness.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 271

Sixpenny Jenny.

" The father of Robert Surtees (Robin of Ryton), was the
first who raised the family from poverty, by making a remark-
able bargain ; for, being merry in company, where a ycung
woman of great fortune was with her lover, one of the company
drank to the lover's best thoughts, who answered he had none,
not even for his mistress, any one being welcome to his interest
with her for sixpence ; this Edward Surtees, the father, gave
him. She resenting the usage, refused her lover and married
Surtees, and the wife got the name of Sixpenny Jenny to her
death." Mem. of Robert Surtees, Esq., 1852, p. 391.

Geordie Black-dodp.

The familiar name of " an eminent freebooter in North
Reedsdale ; " it was acquired thus : Being with a party hotly
pursued by those that they had plundered, it was agreed to
disperse; but Geordie was lame, and could go no further ; and
notwithstanding his friend's remonstrance that his face was so
well known he would never escape if taken, declared his
intention to stay where he was ; "an they ken my face, they
dinna ken my doup ; " and accordingly squatting down in a plot
of rushes with his bare doup alone visible, he escaped unnoticed,
and returned safe home. Mem. of Robert Surtees, p. 89.

As FAR WRANG AS MeGGY LoWES WAS.

This saying is not so frequently heard as formerly — probably
on account of a degree of coarseness involved in its explanation.
Whoever Meggy was, I know not, but her mistake was a
comical one. i

Harper's or Piper's Warning.

This was a warning somewhat similar to that of Scarborough,

272 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

to wit, none at all. In the parish of Lambley, in Tindale Ward,
is a hamlet comprised of a few cottages called Harper Town,
which according to the indisputable evidence of extensive
remains of ancient buildings, was once a village, at least, if not
a town of considerable consequence ; and which tradition says
was totally ruinated by the continuous desolating raids and
burnings of the freebooting Scots.

DORRINGTON LaDS YET !

A cry of triumph, partaking of the nature of a slogan or
freebooting cry ; it is also the name of a popular Border tune.
When Will Allan, the piper, was on his death bed, he was
admonished by his pious neighbours of the awful consequences
of dying unprejDared, with all his sins upon his head; " Pshaw,"
quoth he, in a peevish manner, '' Hand me my pipes, and I'll
gie ye ' Dorrington Lads Yet.' " In local parlance Doddington
is pronounced Dorrington ; so also across the border is Had-
dington called Harrington. — [J. H. in part.]

The folks of Chatton say the cheese of Chatton is better than the
cheese of Cbillingham ; but the cheese of Chatton's nee mair like
the cheese of Cbillingham than chalk's like cheese.*

This gird upon the folks of Chatton and Chillingham, to be
read or spoken aright, must be pronounced in the dialect of
these districts (which, it appears, is a sort of broken English,
similar, in some respects, to the Welsh pronunciation of our
tongue) more particularly as regards the words beginning with
ch, which must be given Shatton, Sheese, etc. Another read-
ing of this border Shibboleth begins: — " There's as good cheese
in Chillingham as ever Chafts chowed ; " and then I have also
met with a third version adapted to Chooslie in Berwickshire.

[Partly by J. H.]

* Ray, in his Proverbs, has " No more like chalk than cheese."

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 273

[To this may now be added another variety from Berwick-
shire : " There's as goo^l cheese in Shirsit (Chirnside) as ever
was chowed wi' chafts, and the cheese o' Chouslie, &c." Of a
parish minister in Berwickshire, his parishioners said for his
credit, using the same sh for ch: "We a' like Mr. Chalmers
o' Mordington, because he's sae cheery and chattie wi' the
childer." There is still another fling at the quiet Northumbrian
villagers : " The children o' Chillingham gied (gave) to the
children o' Chatton a chair to sit on." In 1559, Sir Ralph
Grey dates a letter from '^ Shillingham," which shews that the
popular pronunciation of this word was then prevalent in high
places. — Sir Ralph Sadler's State Papers and Letters^ vol. i.,
p. 594.— J. H.]

Haud Yows.

A bye-name used in North and South Tyne by a certain
portion of the natives against their brethren of the hills, the
sheep farmers, on those wild and dreary fells. Qy. Does it not
bear the English translation of Old Ewes ? the word " awde "
being strongly aspirated in the text. [In Berwickshire the
local name " Haud Ya;ids " was applied to a portion of Colding-
ham Moor, where old horses were turned out to graze. Jamie -
son gives to " Haud, hold, to preserve for stock," applied to
cattle. *' A haudin' cawf," one not fed for sale, but kept that
it may grow to maturity. — J.H.]

Here's to you my master Frank,
Flower of the flock and head of the rank ;
But when you are dead and gone,
Here's to you my master John.

[The toast of Willie Smith, or, as he was popularly called,
Lang Wull Smith, a haveril tyke kept by the family of Seaton
Delaval, as a fool. — J.H.]

T

274 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Wake i' the gate, Wake i' the yett,

Wake i' the tower, an' Wake i' the smidtly door,

Eed-headed Kalph. * * *

[The primitive natives of North Sunderland were very clannish,
and from frequent intermarriages, man}'' of them bore the
family and baptismal name. Some of these appear to have
been recorded in local rhymes, a fragmentary specimen of which
verses appears above. — J. H.]

Pray God send us a Gtood Harvest this Wikter.

Not many years are past since this prayer was pretty gene-
rally expressed by the wreckers on the coast, and I fear that
we of the Bishopric were not innocent of its use. In 1473, a
vessel, the Salvator, belonging to Kennedy, Bishop of St.
Andrews, was wrecked at Bamburgh, when the cargo was
plundered, and the crew made prisoners by the people of the
county. — Pict. Hist. Eng. ii. 184. 'Tis more than hinted that
the spirit of wrecking haunted the coast of Northumberland in
January, 1854. — [Partly by J. H.J

[July 30th, 1678, one of the gentlemen of the county was
accused of being a wrecker, before Ralph Jenison, Esq., at
Elswick. " William Berry and Thomas Bowman say that on
Saturday, the 10th of November last, betwixt two and three of
the clocke in the morning, the good ship or barke called the
Margarett of Leath, wherof John Finley was then maister,
came on shoare at Seaton seas, at the port of Blyth's nuke.
And they being in danger to be lost, and the shipp in dainger
to be suncke or broke, the passengers being afraid of their lives,
being a dossin or sixteene in number, would not stay aboard the
said shipp, but were set ashoare. And before the shipp's com-
pany could returne againe to there shipp, one William Creswell
of Creswell, gent., and John Boult and William Curry, booth

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 275

of Bediinton, came aboard the said shipp, and brooke open the
doores and hatches, and went downe into the hould ; and did
likewise breake open severall trunkes and boxes, and tooke
away severall goods, which these deponents doe conceive to be
worth at least 200^." — Depositions, &c.,from York Castle, p. 229
(Surtees Soc). — J. H.]

1. The Pea Kytes o' Coquet.

2. The sheakle-meakers o' the Woodside.

These two sayings are mutually used as terms of reproach,
and the following observations will illustrate their origin. That
portion of the valley of Coquet adjacent to Woodside is agri-
cultural, whilst the other is almost exclusively pastoral. The
vale of Woodside abounds in natural wood, and the facility with
which it is obtained has induced the custom of twisting birch
twigs in a peculiar manner, to serve instead of hempen bands
for the purpose of tying up cattle. These are called '^ sheakles '"'
(shackles) ; hence the expression. — [Thomas Arkle, Carrick,
Elsdon.]

The Clegs o' Lisleburx.

The Lisle is a small brook in the parish of Corsenside. The
Cleg* is a small grey insect, very common in the months
of June and July. It is remarkable for the keenness of its
bite. There is small doubt that every district in England will
furnish certain specimens of natural history of the genus homo,
as well deserving of the allusion as the calumniated people of
the pleasant vale of the Lisle. — [Thomas Arkle.]

* Cleg, Haematopota pluvialis, L.
T 2

276 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Slogans.

1. A Shaftoe ! a Shaftoe ! ! see " Slogans of tlic Noitli of England,"

pp. 17, 18, 19.

2. A Tindall ! a Tindall ! !

3. Tynedale to it ! lb. 20, 21, 22.

4. A Thirlvvall ! a Thirlewall ! ! a Thirlewall ! ! ! lb. 26.

5. A Berwick ! a Berwick ! ! lb. 30.

6. A Bulmer ! a Bulmer ! ! lb. 36.

7. Hastings ! (?) the Heron Slogan, lb. 36, 37.

The Slogans and War Cries of the Percy and Fenwick have
been already noticed.

A FEW PEOVERBIAL SAYmGS, &c., PECULIAR TO
THE BORDERS AND FEUDAL PERIODS.

ViVlTUR EX RaPTO.

The moss-troopers' motto.

A Marciiman,

An inhabitant of the marches, limits or Borders, adjoining
upon Scotland. The margins of the two kingdoms were called
the Debateable Lands and considered as enemies' countries.
There were March Laws and March Courts of Judicature, of
which the Lords Wardens of the Marches were supreme judges.

Sir Henry Percy laye at the Newe Castelle,

I telle you witliouten drede ;
He had byn a March man all his dayes,

And kept Barwyke npou Twede.

Hot Trod; or Hot Foot. {See p. 241.)

rOPULAK RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 277

Moss-Troopers. (See p. 95.)
Saufey Money. (See p. 102.)

The Rush Bush keeps the Cow.

Occasionally the English and Scottish Borders enjoyed periods
of peaceful repose ; and then it was that the inhabitants could
retire to rest leaving no other keepers to guard their castle than
the rush bush. These periods only came rarely, and after
examples of extreme severity on the part of the lord warden,
and the county keepers. The vow, that the rush bush should
guard the cow, was uttered by Lord William Howard, on his
appointment as a Border Commissioner. It did not originate
with him.

A Warden Haid, or Road.
An inroad commanded by the warden in person.

" And by my faith ! '' the gate ward said,
" I think 'twill prove a warden raid."

Lai/ of the Last Minstrel, c. iv., s. iv.

In the Border Laws of Queen Elizabeth, 1596, it is ordered,
" That no warden or keeper ride hereafter in person, or direct
any to ride hereafter by his commandment, or causing, in
hostile manner within the opposite realm, without a special
command first had thereto from the prince, under his hand and
seal, under the pain to be accounted a public enemy of the
peace ; and whosoever shall accompany him to any such un-
lawful Act, or ride at his command in manner aforesaid, shall
lose for ever all manner of redress on any offence done to them
before the date of the said raid and nevertheless shall satisfy
the party grieved for skaith and damage, according to the laws
of the March."

278 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

RHYMES, PROVERBS, SAYINGS, REPROACHES, CHARAC-
TERISTICS, &c., RELATING TO HEXHAM AND ITS
INHABITANTS.

1. Hexham, the heart of all England.

A fuller and more correct version gives the following
reading : —

2. Hexham, the heart of all England, with a fortnight fair every
week, and a market day on the Tuesday.

3. Hexham Hopenny.

A bye- word of undoubted antiquity. Hopenny, i.e. half-
penny. This saying is well illustrated by the following gird on
the natives of that ancient town: "A haporth o' soat, and a
hoppeny back and there^s o cocer* to put it on."

Both these sayings are, no doubt, used as sneers at the
vulgar dialect cf Hexham. Hopenny is the common way of
naming the coin ; though of late, it has in some measure
yielded to the more correct pronunciation.

4. Hexham measure ; up heaped, pressed down, and running over.

Some of the dry measures used at Hexham do not correspond
with those of the same name in general use in the north of
England. Thus, what is called a boll of corn in Hexham
market contains four Winchester bushels ; the customary
number in other places being only two. When the fact is
known, the inconvenience is not verv creat

* s

Ciaucer.

rOPULAR RHYMES, ETC, RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 279

5. He comes fra' Hexham Green, and that's ten miles ayont Hell.

There is a well-known spot near Hexham, called Tyne Green,
where, till within these few years, the fairs used to be held.
This saying is, I am glad to observe, now rarely heard in the
north. There is a parallel saying belonging to the midland
counties which celebrates a certain cave, near Castleton, in the
district of the Peak, Derbyshire. Both proverbs are spoken of
pej"sons whose place of birth' and former residence are alike
unknown to the party questioned.

6. Every one for their ain hand, like the pipers o' Hexham.

Down to a comparatively recent period, a piper was attached
to every Border town of note (more particularly in Scotland).
The office was in general considered to be hereditary. About
the commencement of spring and the close of harvest, it was
the custom of these migratory musicians, who were nearly the
sole depositories of all the oral, musical, and poetical traditions
of the north, to make a progress through a certain district,
beyond which they must not pass, in respect of the rights and
privileges of their brethren. Their simple but stirring tales, or
a historic or love ballad, sung to the accompaniment of the
Northumbrian pipes invariably was considered as a sufficient
recompense both for bed and board. To pipe for one's own
hand, is, I take it, to pipe for any party who will employ one,
whether they be friend or foe. Or, in other words, to pipe for
those who pay best.

7. Hexham, where they knee-band lops,* and put spectacles upon
blind spiders.

A derisive proverb occasionally applied to other places. For
these alleged preposterous practices I can in no way account.

* Fleas.

280 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

8. Silly-good-natured, like a Hexham goose ; bid him sit down,
and he will lie down.

A well-mouthed proverb, which I take to be a now forgotten
pun on the ancient name of the town, Ha-Gus-tald.

9. A Hexham goose.

Natives of Hexham are so called collectively, without distinc-
tion of sex. A native writes me : By this I am reminded of what
I have often heard and in my boyhood I have often bawled in
the streets during a heavy fall of snow-flakes, " The country
gowks are plucking their geese and sending the feathers to
Hexham.*' — [At Newcastle they say : " The keelmen are
plotting their geese."]

10. He's getten up the lang stairs.

A Hexham saying parallel with that of Newcastle : Hc^s
getten into limbo, up the 19 steps, i.e. into prison.

11. Hexham famed for glovers and hatters.

The former item of celebrity in a great measure still exists,
the latter I fear has vanished.

. 12. A Hexham sixpence-worth.

A purchase composed of the following articles : A penny-
worth o' tay, an' a pennyworth o' shugar, three penny loaves,
an' a pennyworth o' butter, an' a pennyworth o' hey (he)
herrina:, for mv mother likes melts best.

Although the reader on casting the soveral sums of this pur-
chase together will find it amount to a somewhat larger sum, it
is proverbially known as the Hexham sixpenny-worth.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 281

13. Go to Hexham.

A Newcastle malediction. '

[Go to Hexhambirnie is a saying well known at Kelso when
one is annoyed by any one teasing him. In Hislop's Scottish
Proverbs it is Hexclbirnie.]

14. The Fray Bell.

That is the Foray Bell. There was previous to 1742 at Hex-
ham Abbey Church a bell so called. It weighed 7,000 lbs.,
and its sound was heard to an immense distance. It was recast
in the above year. In troublous times it was used to give the
inhabitants of that now peaceful and beautiful district notice of
the approach of the Scots, or equally rapacious Redesdale and
North Tynedale freebooters, when on foray, or fray as it was
more generally called. This bell was broken at the marriage of
Will. Blackett, Esq., with the Hon. Lady Barbara Villiers.

We still retain the latter word in the proverb, " 'Tis better to
be at the end of a feast, than at the beginning of a fray."

[The words foray and fray have no necessary connection,
except that a foray would probably end in a fray.]

RHYMES, PROVERBS, SAYINGS, REPROACHES, CHA-
RACTERISTICS, &c., RELATING TO BERWICK-ON-
TWEED.

1. The good town o' Berwick.

In several MS. documents of the olden time, the town of
Bersvick is so designated ; but I simply take it to be a mere
compliment parallel with the phrase, " The good men of
Newcastle." It is also called " Her Majesty's Good Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed."

282 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

2. M. semel et C ter, semel X, serael V, dabis I ter ;
Capto Bervico, sit laus et gloria Christo.

— Fordun, I. xii,, cxxxvii.

The taking of the good town of Berwick was recorded by
some Scottish monk in the above rhymes.

3. The middle arch of Berwick Bridge is at one end.

This is a genuine English bull which I have been told
strangers are often guilty of using. In truth the loftiest and
widest arch (which is the middle one in almost all bridges) is, if
my memory serves me, the second from the north, the gross
number being fifteen. This bridge was built by Mr. James
Burrell and Lancelot Branxton ; and is said to have been twenty-
four years four months and four days in building. It was
finished on the 24th of Oct., 1634.* An old traveller who
visited the north of England in the latter part of the seventeenth
century says, when writing cf Berwick, it hath " a fair and
stately stone bridge, built at the charge of the late famous, pious,
prudent, and for ever memorable prince and monarch, James,
King of Great Britaine," etc. This edifice measures 1,164 feet
in length and 17 in width. Towards its cost Parliament gave
the sum of £14,960 Is. 6d.

4. The burghers o' Berwick get warm rolls and butter ev^ry morning
to their breakfast.f

The above saying has evidently been invented as an exercise
of the organs of speech of the natives, who, on account of the

* The bridge was opened for traffic at latest in 1G25, and the
accounts for repairs were in 1634 transferred from the rojal to local
accounts. — J. S.

t From] Chambers's Poji. Rhymes, &c., p. 157.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 283

burr or cinder in their throat, will no doubt feel extreme
difficulty in articulating the words which compose the
sentence.

[It was the custom for the mayor's Serjeants to breakfast in
the mayor's house, and for breakfast they had cold beef, ale,
and rolls. Whether there is any allusion to this in the saying
or not I cannot say. The custom is now abolished. Or the
saying may have allusion to the freemen by those who were
employed in keeping up the interest of the M.P.'s, or of those
who intended to become candidates for that honour. But this,
however, is mere guess-work. — G. J.]*

5. From Berwick to Dover,
Three hundred miles over.

Parallel with the Scripture expression — " from Dan to Beer-
sheba."

6. The sow has farrowed.

The siege of Berwick, under Edward II., commenced on the
1st September, 1319. On the thirteenth day a general assault
was begun, wherein the English employed a great machine
called a sow, constructed for holding and defending men, who
were moved in it towards the foot of the wall, in order to under-
mine and sap its foundation. Devices were used to burn it, but
by throwing a stone of enormous weight from an engine, the
sow was split and her occupants dislodged. This incident gave
rise to the above saying, which is still occasionally heard in
Berwickshire and Northumberland when any apparently deep-
laid scheme ends in something even less substantial than smoke.
A similar story is told in connection with the siege of Dunbar
Castle, defended by Black Agnes against the Earl of Salisbury,
1338.

* Dr. George Johnston, the eminent naturalist.

284 THE DENHAM TEACTS.

7. I am a Brigg, as Travellers weel do ken,
For English, Scottish, and all other men.

A rhyme said to be inscribed upon the bridge of Berwick-
upon-Tweed ; but the truth is it must only be supposed to exist.
Still it is worthy of preservation.

8. What weyns King Edward, with his long shankes,
To have wonne Berwick all our unthankes ?
Gaas pykes hym,
And when he hath it
Gaas dykes him.

Some printed copies read '' gas " in place of " gaas."
In the year 1297, while Edward I. was besieging Berwick,
the Scots made the above rhymes upon him, as saith Fabyan.
However, the Scots were beaten in this instance, both with
sword and song. Berwick was soon taken, and shortly after
they suffered a signal discomfiture at Dunbar. ''Wherefore
ye English menne in reproache of the Scots made this rime
followino; : —

These scatterand Scottes,
Hold we for sottes

Of wrenches unware ;
Erly in a mornyng,
In an eivil timyng.

Came thei to Dunbar."

Wrighfs Essai/s, vol. ii. p. 261.

The Arundel and Fairfax MSS. give somewhat various
readings of the latter rhymes. [For other versions of these
rhymes, see Ritson's Essay on Scottish Song, pp. xxv. and
xxvi.]

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 285

9. Berwick, the key of England on the east sea.

Carlisle, on the west sea, is also so termed. Mr. Dibclln, in
his Northern Tour, vol. ii. p. 394, remarks : — " The governor
of Berwick Castle in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth
centuries might be said to wear the keys of Scotland in his

girdle."

10. There's a lang bridge at Berwick,
A church without a steeple,*
A dunghill before every door,
And very deceitful people.

Great truths are chronicled in the first two verses of these
rhymes ; but as regards the others, for the credit of the town
and people, I hope, in the present day and generation, they
are inapplicable. One disagreeable nuisance, however, remained
at Berwick till within the last ten years or so, to wit, the
butchers' slaughter-houses, which, being situated in a central
and elevated part of the town, sent forth their filth and putrid
exhalations down several streets, to the great annoyance of the
more cleanly portion of the inhabitants.

At the meeting of Guardians, Berwick Union, Xovember 12,
1860, Mr. George Smith said, " He remembered about forty
years ago, when be used to come to school at Berwick, there
was an old song which his schoolmaster used to sing which ran

thus : —

Berwick is a dirty town,

A church without a steeple.
There's a midden at every door,
God curse all the people !

There is no such thing as a midden at every door now ; by
the Health of Towns Act the blessing of cleanliness has been
bestowed on the town. — Berwick Advertiser, Ifoveinberl7tJi, 1860.

* The church-going people are suramonod to divine service by bells,
eight in number, which are hung in the Town Hall.

286 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

In tlie Berwick Advertiser, November 24tli, 1860, " An
older man than Mr. Smith " gives what he considers the correct
version :

Berwick is an ancient town,

A church without a steeple.
A pretty girl at every door,
/ And very generous people. '

J. H.

[The " Church without a steeple," is introduced into a
curious piece of doggrel inscribed on a tombstone in the church-
yard at Berwick. The sculptor's name was Jackson, as well as
those he commemorates. The stone was erected in 1802.]

The peaceful mansions of the dead

Are scattered far and near ;
But by the stones o'er this yard spread,

Seem numerously here.
A relative far from his home

Mindful! of men so just,
Reveres this spot, inscribes the tomb,

And in his God doth trust
That he shall pass a righteous life,

Live long for sake of Seven,
Return in safety to his wife

And meet them both in heaven.
God bless the souls departed hence.

This church without a steeple;
The king, the clergy, and the good sense

Of all the Berwick people.

There is another version of the rhyme, and Robert Burns
was reputed to be its author. When he visited Berwick he
formed a very indifferent opinion of the town and its inhabitants j

POPULAR EHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 287

and scratched the following lines upon a pane in the window of
the place where he stayed :

Berwick is a dirty place.

Has a church jvithout a steeple,
A middenstead at every door,

And a — — deceitful people."*

11. Once going through Berwick maketh not a man of war.
[Var. a soldier,]

This aphorism evidently alludes to that unhappy period when
we, either privately or publicly, were plunged in one continuous
and savage warfare w^ith our neighbours the Scots.

12. The no-nation town of Berwick.

In the reign of Edward the Sixth, this Border town was, by
Act of Parliament, made a town and county of itself, indepen-
dent of both states.

At the siege of Berwick by King Edward the First, Matt,
of Westminster says, sixty thousand were slain, and Fordun,
another old historian, says that the streets ran with blood for
two days, and that the mills w^ere actually set agoing with the
blood of the slain. At a later siege, 1405, "Walsingham says,
that cannon were used for the first time. In the time of
Richard III. of England and James III. of Scotland, the
disputed Border grounds were agreed upon to be left unculti-
vated, unbuilt upon, and untilled.

13. Berwick upon Tweed,

Newcastle upon Tyne :
Alnwick for wliite bread, f
Morpeth for swine.

* Border Treasury, p. 286 • f Pronounced breed.

288 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

These rhymes also occur witli the following variorum readings
of the two verses : —

14. Eyemoutli for a bonny lass,

And Coldingham for swine.

A third reading gives : —

15. Spiltal for cuddies (asses),

And Tweedmouth for swine.
J. H.

16. A Berwick burgess speaks wi' a bunch o' bear-awns in his
hause.

By no means a bad alliterative saying, bearing on the burr
of the burgers of Berwick.

Bear. An inferior kind of barley. Qy. Hence the name of
the beverage brewed therefrom.

Hause. The throat ; also the neck. The ancient spelling of
this word is hals. A hals-col, is a steel gorget to protect the
neck of the wearer.

17. Berwick burr.

The good folks of Berwick " owing to some occult cause," as
funny old Fuller expresses it, "have a wharling in their throats,
so that they cannot pronounce the letter R."

18. From Berwick to "Ware.

A proverbial phrase to be met with in Chaucer's Canterbury
Tales. [Pardonere,]

19. If a Berwick lad and lass,

Gang together by the Steps o' Grace,
Tlicy'll sup wi' the priest o' Lamberton.

The Steps of Grace is, I am informed, a farm-place on the

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 289

road from Berwick to Lamberton ; the Gretna Green of the
Eastern Borders. The priest of Lamberton is [was] generally
an old shoemaker, broken-down farmer, or an ousted priest —
frequently a " a deboshed tippling creature " who takes upon
himself the functions of the priesthood, and reads the English
marriage service to any party anxious to get wedded in haste —
generally called Buckle-the- Beggar marriages.

[The original Steps of Grace were cut in the steep sea banks
that bounded the farm, to admit of access to the coast.]

20. Sin' the days o' Gilligacus

There's been fishers on the Tweed:

Sin' the Romans came to wrack us,
And consume our ancient seed,

A castle strong, has been to back us
On the tap o' yon brae head.

" In turning over some old letters, 1 have laid my hands on one
from an old friend, the late Mr. Alexander A. Carr, author of
the History of Coldingham Priory, in which he sends me a
copy of the above rhymes, relating, he says, to the old Castle of
Berwick. He gives no explanation with it, nor makes any
commentary thereon, and so you have it as I got it. I suppose
Gilligacus to be Galgacus. How Mr. Carr got it 1 cannot tell.
His letter was written in 1834." Private Correspondence, G.H ,
28th September, 1852. [G. H. is the late Mr. George Hender-
son, surgeon, Chirnside, Berwickshire, a local poet, and author
of the Popular Rhymes, Sayings, and Proverbs of the County
of Bencick (Newcastle, 1856), and other writings.]

22. Berwick Bridge.

The following characteristic story, in union with this noble
structure, was kindly communicated just in time to allot it a
place in the current section: —

u

I

290 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

As the story goes, tlie gatekeeper on the bridge receives a
penny from every Scotsman who crosses over to England ; and
in return gives half-a-crown to every Scotsman who comes back
again. {See Rhyme No. 7.)

I may here remark that it is assumed to be an historical fact
that no living creature native of the Land o' Cakes is recorded
to have ever re-sought the country of its birth save and except-
ing King James's cow.

Of course both stories are somewhat apocryphal.

24. Go to Berwick, Johnny.

The following are the words which remain to us of an old,
very old song, which gives name to the no doubt equally old, if
not still older, tune, which is well known and highly popular in
other places than the town it refers to : —

Go to Berwick, Johnny,

Bring her frae the Border ;
"We'll cry '' Fye upon ye,"

If ye let her further.
The English loons will twyne

Ye, of your winsome treasure ;
And ere ye so her tyne,

Your sword wi' them I'd measure.

Go to Berwick, Johnny,

And redeem your honor ;
Before the sun rise on ye.

Shew our Scottish banner.
I am Rab, the king.

And ye are Jock, my brither ;
Or, we brook sic thing

We'se a be there thegither.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 291

Go to Berwick, Johnny,

On yer braid sword bind ye ;
Wi' a' my graith upon me,

ril be close behind ye.
Ye'll ride on the colt

And I'll ride on the filly;
Saddle horse and mare,

And we'll to Berwick, Billy !

A portion of this song is given in Johnson's Musical Museum
It purports to be of the age of Robert II. of Scotland. This is
inferred from the words, " I am Rab, the King." But this
might have been said by Robert III. also, yet the urgency and
spirit of the address would not be in keeping with the character
of that indolent and uuAvarlike monarch. The last verse was
written down from the recitation of an old lady aged 99, if not
100 years. She died a year or two ago.

In my gatherings of our Northern Nursery Lore is the follow-
ing quatrain, which is evidently a fragment of the above good
old border song : —

Hide away ! Ride away !

Ride away to Berwick, Johnnie :
Ye'll ride on the Brown Colt,

And I'll ride on the filly.

It is noted down as a Berwickshire Nursery Rhyme, and a
reference is given to another version quoted by Ritsou, who
refers it to Sir William Wallace and Sir John Graham.*

[* This being of my communication, I shall adduce Ritson's own
words. ** The editor has heard it gravely asserted, in Edinburgh,
that a foolish song beginning.

Go, go, go, go to Berwick, Johny,

Thou shalt have the horse, and I'll have the pony,

was actually made upon one of this hero's (Wallace) marauding

u 2

292 THE DENHAM TEACTS.

Mayhap, some at least of my '' charitable readers " will permit
me to observe, that the former suggestion approximates closer
to probability. The wcrd billy, which terminates the song, is
often met with in our Northern Anthology. Its meaning is, a
companion, a brother, a young springald ; also, it is used as a
general term of endearment in connection with the male sex.

expeditions, and that the person thus addressed was no other tlian
his Jidus Achates, Sir John Graliam." — Historical Essay on Scottish
Song, p. xxvi., and in Eitson's Scottish Songs, vol. i. Some one had
attempted to cram poor Ritson ! The set of the song, given from
Johnson's Museum, in Whitelaw's Book of Scottish Song, p. 571,
differs in some respects from Mr. Denham's copy, which is more
spirited. It is there said to have been partly written by John
Hamilton, music seller, Edinburgh. There is another juvenile varia-
tion of the rhyme —

'■' Raw lads, and bait yauds.
On wi' creels, and on wi' pads,
And owre Ross hill to Berwick, Johnnie."

Bait-yauds are women who gather bait for fishermen. Ross is a
small fishing hamlet in the parish of Ayton, situated by the coast-
margin at the foot of a steep bank. — See Henderson's Pojmlar lihymes
of the County of Berwick, p. 107. — J. H.]

RHYMES, PROVERBIAL SAYINGS, REPROACHES,
CHARACTERISTICS, &c., RELATING TO NEW-
CASTLE-ON-TYNE.

Section I. — The People.

1. He has got the Newcastle burr in his throat.

The inhabitants of Newcastle, Morpeth, and various oliier

POPULAE RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 293

places in the north, have a guttural pronunciation like that
called in Leicestershire warling, none of them being able to
pronounce the letter r. The burr is a peculiar whirring sound
made by the natives of these places in pronouncing, or rather
endeavouring to pronounce, the above letter, supposed to be
derived from their Danish ancestors.

2. Ye're like Tom Tod's pig, it's a' your ain bringing on.

Tom lived in one of the purlieus of Westgate, and his pig
having broken down the barriers of the sty was roaming at
liberty, when a carriage in passing by ran over it and broke
one of its legs. It roared out mightily, and as soon as its owner
caught hold of it he exclaimed, " Damn you, make less noise,
its a' your ain bringing on."

3. Honour bright, Bet Watt !

A protestation of honour often made use of by the common
people in Newcastle. It originated with and is still retained in
commemoration of a late well-known Newcastle worthy.

4. Crankies.

A proverbial name for pitmen.

" The Crankies, fan-er back than I knaw,
Hae gyen to Sizes to see trumpets blaw."

5. The Drunkard's cloak, or Newcastle cloak.

The cloak for the drunkard and the branks for the scold were

294

THE DENHAM TRACTS.

two ancient nortli countiy punishments which were often in-
flicted on those disturbers of the peace in the seventeenth
century. The common drunkard was led through the town as
a spectacle of contempt, covered witli a large barrel called a
Newcastle Cloak, one end being out, and the other having a
hole through it of sufficient size to allow the offender's head
to pass through, by which means the barrel rested on the
shoulders.

6. Muzzle her, muzzle lier, put her in the branks.

The above is still occasionally repeated, by one or other of the
" good men of Newcastle," when they chance to hear one of
their native ladies from the locality of Sandhill or Sandgate
giving too free scope to her passions by the volubility of her
tongue and the extent of her voice. The branks was an instru-
ment formerly kept in the Mayor's Chambers, Newcastle, for
the punishment of chiding and scolding women, and is still pre-
served in the Justice Room in the Manors. It is made of iron,
fastens round the head like a muzzle, and has a spike to insert
in the mouth, so as effectually to silence the offensive orga i
within. Mr. Hodgson speaks of the branks as being still
applied to scolds in his time. — Beauties of England and Wales,
Mrthd., p 64.

7. As fine as Forty Poke's wife, who dressed herself with

primroses.

I plead guilty to have taken a two-fold liberty with this truly
elegant Newcastle comparison.

8. Stands like a Newcastle fishwife.

A horse-dealer's phrase, touching the peculiar manner in
which some horses stand with their forelegs.

POPULAR EHYMESj ETC.^ RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 295

9. (1 ) At Westgate cam Thornton in,

With hap, a halfpenny, and a lamb's skin.

(2) At the West gate came Thornton in,
With a hap and a halfpenny in a ram's skin.

(3) In the West gate came Thornton in,
With a happen-hap't in a ram's skynn.

(4) Here did Thornton enter in.

With hope, a halfpenny, and a lamb's skin.

(5) With a hopp, a halfepenny, and a lamb's skin.
At West gate came Hodge Thornton in.

Stainsby, Arch. yEliana, iii., 119.

(6) In at the West gate came Thornton in,

With a hap and halfe-penny and a lambes skin.

(7) At the West gate cam Thornton in,

With a hap, a halfpenny, and hapt in a ram-skin.

Such are the various readings of a whimsical and satirical
couplet peculiar to north country.

In the Love Sick King^ by Antliony Brewer, gent., 1665,
Thornton, the pedlar, is a character, and writes on a tile.

In connection with these rhymes I may, perhaps, be per-
mitted to observe, that by omitting the article A in the 2nd,
3rd, 6th, and 7th readings and translating the word hap by
luck or fortune, rather than coverlet or blanket, we arrive at a
more reasonable and rational result. (Qy.) Was not the ram
or lamb's skin his covering or garment, or rather, perhaps, he
might be clothed in the customary manner of those belonging to
his class, and the skin be in the place of his first article of mer-

296 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

chandise? The following English and Scots proverbs prove
the birth and rise of the word hap in the sense of luck, many
centuries previous to that of the saying on the Newcastle
princely merchant : —

Some have liap, some stick in the gap,

Nae man can make his ain hap.

Hap and a halfpenny is world's gear enough.

[" Good luck and a halfpenny and a lamb's skin," occurs in
Pinkerton^s Scotland, i., p. 345. — J.H.]

10. Newcastle hospitality.

That is, roasting a friend to death, or, according to a more
popular colloquial phrase, " killing a person with kindness."
The saying, no doubt, alludes to the ancient drinking customs
of Newcastle and Northumberland — customs now happily, to
a great extent, laid aside. In those good old times no one was
permitted to leave the room until he fell dead drunk under the
table, or was obliged to be carried out. For further illustra-
tions of the above follies, see St. James's Magazine, ii., 449.

1 1 . A quayside shaver. • ^

This saying evidently alludes to the ancient practice of
shaving on the open quay by men and women, which latter,
curiously enough, appear to have followed the same capacity for
two hundred years or upwards. Early in the seventeenth
century we find them accused of letting blood, a procedure
which raised the ire of barber chirurgeons, who, of course,
counted all phlebotomy private property. For further illustra-
tions see Ibid, ii., 413. [But a shaver is a common phrase
everywhere.]

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 297
12. She's a Sandhiller.

Any celebrated female blackguard is so termed in the counties
of Durham and Yorkshire. I never heard it applied to any other
than the fair sex. It most evidently has derived its popular exis-
tence from Sandhill, in Newcastle. Parallel with the above is
the metropolitan expression, a Billingsgate, which Mr. Grose,
in his collection of Local Proverbs, says is spoken of those ladies
who are '* not famous for their politeness of address, delicacy of
language, or patience and long suffering." Mr. Brockett says
that the Sandhillcrs and Sandgaters certainly give fine specimens
of what Quintilian calls canina eloqueniia.

[Mr. Brockett gives " Sandgate city, a burlesque name for
Sandgate, Newcastle." '■'' Sandgate-ring, a particular mode of
lighting a tobacco pipe, which I am unable to describe."]

Here lies Robin Wallis,

The prince of good fellows,

Clerk of AHhallows,
; ' , ■ And maker of Bellows ;

He bellows did make to the day of liis death,

But he that made bellows conld never make breath.

An epitaph said to have existed in the old church of All
Hallows, but I don't believe it.

14. Cock's four canny hinnies.

They were the daughters and co-heirefses of Alderman Kalph
Cock, of Newcastle.

15. As rich as Cock's canny hinnies.

The above proverb was no doubt highly popular, not only in
the days of the worthy Alderman, but also during a long subse-
q^uent period.

298 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

16. Hob Collingwood.

A name given in Newcastle to tlie four of hearts, in the game
of whist. Old ladies in general look upon it as proverbially un-
lucky. Qy., why so called ?

17. He's getting into limbo — up the nineteen steps.

That is, he is under confinement in Newcastle Old Gaol —
the Castle Keep — [a stone jacket, Newcastle].

[As far back as 1569 Newgate is mentioned as a place of
confinement for offenders. '' One Janet Cooke was spoken of
in reproach of having stolen a purse," and was carried to the
New Yaite for the same." Depositions, ^*c. from the Courts at
Durham^ p. 68. — J. H.]

18. Newcastle Scots are the worst of all Scots.

Qy. Does this allude to the natives of the Land o' Cakes
resident in Newcastle, or to a Newcastle family bearing ye
above popular and honourable surname of Scot ? Maybe the
proverb simply means that he who turns his coat becomes more
bigotted to his new love than the genuine professor. [Is applied
to Newcastle pedling merchants, who exact great profits and
are mostly Scots^ called menage men.]

A valued correspondent informs me that the proverbial
phrase was, at no distant period, much used in London, in
contempt of Northern Greens or Johnny Raws.

19. Like will to like, as the Devil said to the Newcastle collier ;
Or as the scabbed Squire said to the mangy Knyght, when

they both met over a dish of buttered fish.
Tel pot, tel couvcrcle. — Cotgrave.

POPULAE EHYMES; ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 299

20. A quayside umbrella.

A swill or kind of basket formed of mipeeled willows, which
is generally carried on the head of a certain class of females.
When the weather is wet and the basket is empty, they in-
variably wear it topsy turvey : hence the Newcastle name.

21. "Nog, noo, canny judge ; play the reet caird, and it's a deed
pig," quoth the Mayor of Newcastle.

" Deed " is '*dead " ; and a " dead pig ^' signifies that '' it is
all over with anything."

There is a good story told of a quondam alderman of New-
castle, that when mayor, playing at whist with the late Judge
Buller, and having nine and six tricks, he called aloud in a
transport of joy, " Noo, noo, canny judge, play the reet caird,"
&c.

22. base mault,

Thou didst the fault.
And into Tyne thou shalt.

Henry Wallis, a master shipwright of the town, having been
guilty, while in his cups, of abusing Alderman Barnes, was
committed to the tower on Tyne Bridge, where, finding a
quantity of malt lying in the chamber wherein he was confined,
he threw it all out of the prison window with a shovel into the
water of Tyne, amusing himself the while with singing the
triplet quoted above.

23. A Sandgate rattle.

A peculiar kind of step in vulgar dancing, consisting of a
quick and violent beating of the heels and toes on the floor.
— [Brockett.)

300 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

24. Mr. Bryson, on Tyne Brigg,

An upright, downright, honest Whig.

The superscription on a letter from the celebrated Allan
Ramsay. Martin Bryson, was a bookseller of respectability and
worth, dwelling as above. — Sykes's Local JRecords, vol. i.
p. 224.

Section II. — The Town.

25. As old as Pandon.

V. As old as Pandon Yatts.

The first form of the proverb is given by Grey, 1649. The
latter is used in the southern portions of the Bishopric and the
county of York. Pandon was anciently spelled '' Pampdene."
Nothing is more general than the above saying, when any one
would describe the great antiquity of anything. Pandon gate
is believed to have been of Roman workmanship. It had large
folding iron gates but no portcullis, and was ascended by a
flight of stairs two yards wide. Camden remarks, " At Pandon-
gate there still remains one of ye little turrets of Severus's
wall." Recent discoveries have proved the Nourice of Anti-
quity to be in error here, as the Roman wall passed in almost
a rectangular direction with that of the town wall, and in a line
with the gate called " Sallyport." Still, this does not disturb
or gainsay the extreme antiquity of Pandon Yatts.

Pandon was anciently a distinct town from Newcastle, but
was united thereto by a charter of Edward I. The kings of
Northumberland, after the departure of the Romans, are said to
have had one of their palaces at Pandon.

26. The nine trades of Newcastle.

There are or were nine trading companies in Newcastle, to
wit: three of wood, three of thread, and three of leather, " The

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 301

meeting of the Nine Trades." Their place of meeting was in
the house of the Grey Friars.

28. Like carrying coals to Newcastle.

To give to them who liave already more than sufficiency.
In the environs of Newcastle are most of the coal mines which
supply London and numerous other places. The common
proverb is quoted by Mr. Disraeli to show that scarcely any
remarkable saying can be considered national, but that every
one has some type or corresponding idea in other languages.
In this instance the Persians have to carry pe]:)per to Hindostan,
the Hebrews to carry oil to the City of Olives, which is exactly
the same metaphor in oriental language. In Scotland they
have, to carry salt to Dysart, and puddings to Tranent ; the
Greeks to carry owls to Athens ; and the Italians, &c. to carry
indulgences to Rome. In conclusion, take the following extract
from a modern writer : a certain Irish looking " operation and
the traffick going on at Newcastle are a practical refutation of
the two old sayings, which express a reversal of the right order
of things ; for here the honest folks literally prove that it is
very good sense "to put the cart before the horse " and " to
carry coals to Newcastle."

29. You must go to GatesiJe to hear Newcastle news.

A common figure of speech. Gateside, the popular name
of Gateshead. " And yet sic a mater nather does the kirk
civilie nor the counsall or Parliament ecclesiasticallie intreat —
dXia jXavKa^ eh 'AO^vw; — salt to Dysart, or colles to New-
castle!"— Melville's ^i^toJio^mp/*^ (1583) i., 163 (Wodrow Soc.)

30. A Scotcliman, a rat, and a Newcastle millstone will travel all
the world over.

A commendable spirit of enterprise and industry induces the

302 THE DENHAM TEACTS.

natives of Scotland to seek their fortunes in all climates and
kingdoms under the sun. The following epigrammatic couplet
is from the pen of [Cleveland] *

" Had Cain been Scot, God would have changed his doom,
Nor forced him to wandei*, but confined him at home."

The propensity of our northern neighbours is further celebrated
in proverb lore by the following : — the Englishman greets, the
Irishman sleeps, but the Scotchman gangs till he gets it.

JNIr. Southey, in his Literary Pastimes, vol. vii., describes the
rat as the enemy of man, " a bold Borderer, a Johnny Armstrong,
or Rob Roy, who acknowledges no right of property in others,
and lives by spoil. Wherever man goes rat follows or accom-
panies him. Town or country are equally agreeable to him.
The adventurous merchant ships a cargo to some distant port,
rat goes with it. Great Britain plants a colony in Botany Bay,
Van Diemen's Land, or at Swan River, rat takes the oppor-
tunity of colonising there also. Rat embarks as a volunteer.
He doubled the Cape with Diaz, embarked at Malabar in the
first European vessel with Gama, discovered the New World
with Columbus, and took possession of it at the same time ; and
circumnavigated the globe with Magellan, and with Drake and
with Cook."

Newcastle grindstones (magnified into millstones by the
popular proverb) being the first of their kind, are therefore
known and carried everywhere. In 1776, 560 grindstones
were exported to Holland from Newcastle ; 467 to France ;
139 to Germany; 12 to England; 155 to Prussia; QQ to
Russia ; 15 to Sweden, &c. They are chiefly won at Byker
Hill, Whickham Banks, and Gateshead Fell.

* Churchill in Mr. Denham's copy, but the lines are Cleveland's.

POPUIAR EHYMESj ETC.^ RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 303

A Scotsman, a crow, and a ^Newcastle grindstone.

According to tlie sailor's proverb, " there is no part of the
world in which you cannot find a Scotsman, a crow, and a New-
castle grindstone." — Scotsman Newspaper^ July 4th, 1860.

A rat, a Scot, and a Newcastle grindstone wherever you go.

Among other commodities Newcastle is famous for its grind-
stones, the material of which, however, comes from the quarries
in Durham county. Upon this circumstance is founded a
satirical proverb, which the natives of South Britain are very
fond of quoting to any Scot who may be sojourning among
them; it is this, "A rat, a Scot, and a Newcastle grindstone,
wherever you go ; " by which it is intimated that a Scot
always takes but never gives. As to the ambulatory propensities
and habits of the Scot, we deem it more a compliment than
otherwise, and but pitliily descriptive of the adventuous spirit of
the nation :

" Mirth makes them not mad,
Nor sobriety sad,

But of that they are seldom in danger ;
At Paris, at Rome,
At the Hague, they're at home,

The kind canny Scot is nowhere a stranger."
Psedeutes in Hogg's Instructor, ii., p. 47. (2nd ser.) — J. H.

31. Gotham.

A cant name for this canny town.

" Heaven prosper thee, Goatham ! thou famous old town,
Of the Tyne the chief glory and pride ;
May thy heroes acquire immortal renown.

On the dread field of Mars when they're tried."

Song — Kiver awa.

304 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

I should su])pose tl)iit Newcastle acquired this unenviable
name about the year 1649, when the Common Council com-
missioned two of the town Serjeants to go into Scotland for the
witch-finder ; if not in 1645, when they obtained the Lee-Penny
to cure the plague, which was then ravaging the town.

Many years ago a squib appeared in Newcastle the title of
which was The Chronicles of Gotham. It had reference to the
improvements made in the town when Dean Street and Mosley
Street were formed. It was directed chiefly against the Cor-
poration, and was, I understand, well executed. The late Mr.
Nathaniel Clayton, and Mr. David Stevenson, the architect of
i^.ll Saints Church, are the principal interlocutors.

The nickname of Gotham is not singular in its application to
Canny Newcastle : for it is an historical fact that it has been
applied to many other towns in squibs and crackers, wherein
the leading inhabitants were joked. Indeed we may imagine —
nay assert — that the words Gotham and Gothamite have been
applied to almost every inhabitant, and town, and village in the
kingdom.

32. Croakumshire.

A cant name for the whole comity of Northumberland, in
which Newcastle may be included ; arising from the peculiar
croaking in the pronunciation of the inhabitants. Grose says,
" The people are born with a burr in their throats."

33. Burcastle.

Tlie capital of Croakumshire.

34. If we cannot win the Old Castle we must win the New Castle.

Spoken by those wdio, from ill success in one business, are
forced to try another. The saying doubtless had its origin
thus : —

POPULAB EHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 305

Rufus, the son of William the Conqueror, being sent by his
father against the Northumbrian insurgents^ then in possession
of Prudhoe Castle (about ten miles west from Monkchester), is
said to have deferred the siege of that fortress till the ensuing
spring, and to have garrisoned his troops during the winter at
Monkchester, where he employed his soldiers in building the
castle, on which occasion he remarked that, if we cannot take
the Old we will at least build a New Castle.

After the completion of the castle, the ancient name of
Monkchester was discarded, and that of Newcastle given, which
may it retain for ever.

35. My altitude high, my body four-square,
My foot in tlie grave, my head in the ayre,
My eyes in my side, five tongues in my wombe,
Thirteen heads upon my body, four images alone ;
I can direct you where the winde doth stay,
And I tune God's precepts thrice a day.
I am seen where I am not, I am heard where I is not.
Tell me now where I am, and see that you misse not.

Grey in his ChorograpMa, or a Survey of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne (1649), attributes this enigma on the steeple of St.
Nicholas' Church, to Ben Jonson, and further says : — It lifletb
up a head of majesty, as high above the rest as the cypress tree
above the low shrubs.

[Verum haec tantum alias inter caput extulit urbes,
Quantum lenta sclent inter viburna cupressi.

Virgil, Ec. 1.]

36. Calf-yard.

A proverbial phrase made use of to express the place of a

806 . THE DENHAM TRACTS.

person's birth. It is likewise the Newcastle man's fire-
side.

Aw've leern'd to prefer my awn canny calf-yaird,

If ye catch me mair fra'et ye'll be cnnnun.

Song, " Canny Newcastle."

37. Newcastle Castle won't stand for ever.

Spoken in reply to those who give utterance to expressions
of astonishment at the short duration 9f anything.

38. Barge-day.

Ascension day. So called in Newcastle from the annual
aquatic procession of the corporate body on that day.

39. Eide through Sandgate, both up and down,

There you'll see the gallants fighting for the crown ;

All the cull cuckolds in Sunderland town,

"With all the bonnie blue-caps cannot pull them down.

The above is supposed to be a fragment of a song on the siege
of Newcastle by Leslie and the Scots. The blue-caps (Scotch-
men) did, however, after a most gallant defence, at last succeed
in pulling them down, 19tli October, 1644. — Sharp's Bish.
Garl.

40. Black Indies.

Newcastle and the surrounding district is so called in conse-
quence of its immense wealth in coals.

41. Black diamonds.

Coals are so proverbially called in the North of England, more
particularly in the vicinage of Newcastle.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 307

42. Of all the churches in our land,
Let them be ne'er so braw ;
St. Nicholas, of Newcastle town,
Yet fairly bangs them a'.

The inhabitants of this town are justly proud of their
singularly beautiful specimen of architecture — the steeple of
St. Nicholas's Church. This tower has been in danger of
destruction by ravages of war. In October, 1644, when the
town was besieged by the Scottish forces, the general pointed
his cannon at St. Nicholas, and declared he would blow it down
unless the town capitulated. It is said that the mayor. Sir John
Marley, immediately caused the chief of the Scottish prisoners, of
whom they had a considerable number, to be so disposed upon
and around the steeple, that its destruction must have been fatal
to them. " Our enemies," he said, " shall also fall with us, or
preserve us," The tower was consequently saved.

" Long has it stood ilk bitter blast,
And longer may it stand,
As it has been for ages past,
A pattern to our land.

" Then long may fam'd St. Nicholas stand.
Before it does come down,
That when we dee, our bairns may see
The beauty of that town."

— Local Song.

43. Templum, Portus, Castrum, Carbo, Salina, Molaris,
Murus, Pons, Salmo, Schola, sunt Novi gloria Castri.

The ten celebrities of Newcastle are most learnedly chronicled
in the above Latin distich by an ingenious author.

X 2

308 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

In one day, 12th June, 1755, not fewer than two thousand
four hundred salmon were taken in the Tyne, and sold in New-
castle market at a penny and a penny farthing a pound.

44. The Newcastle muck-midden.

The wonderful dunghill so celebrated in the history of New-
castle existed at the west end of the castle keep, and owing to
its extending a very great height up the building, damages were
done to it to the amount of £120. This " outrageous^' muck-
midden, which had been many centuries no doubt in collecting,
was removed, in 1664, by Sir John Marley, and used to make
a rampart on the town walls against the Scots. This place was,
as it were, the common mixen or dunghill of the entire town.

45. The Thief and Reaver bell.

The proverbial name given to the tolling of the great bell of
the church of St. Nicholas, in Newcastle-on-Tyne. From time
immemorial this bell has been rung at eight o'clock in the
evening preceding every fair as a kind of invitation or pro-
clamation that all manner of whores, thieves, dice-players, and
all other manner of unthrifty folks be welcome to enter the good
town, whether they come early or late.

The "privileged fairs" granted protection to this class only
so far as they should not be then and there apprehended for any
theft or misdemeanour, save and except the crime was com-
mitted at or during the fair. This protection caused multitudes
of loose persons of both sexes to resort to fairs of this descrip-
tion, who otherwise durst not have appeared in public.

46. Newcastle Assize Ehymes.

In accordance with common tradition the following are the

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 309

words of the tune played by the trumpeters before " my lord
judge " on entering the town to hold " the circuit." They will
remind the reader of Bow Bells and Dick Whittington : —

The judge is here ! Ans. The judge is here !

Who is clear I am clear

Need not fear ! And have no fear.

The Aberdeen rhymes on a similar occasion are nearly the
same. See Eclectic Review, 1847, p. 233. — [J.H.]

47. Canny Newcastle.

In the dialect of the north, the word canny means fine, neat,
clean, handsome, becoming, honest, &c. This explanation is
spoken jocularly to the natives of Newcastle as a gird on them
for their partiality to their native town. By the pitmen New-
castle is esteemed as the centre of the world of civilization.

" God bless the king and nation,
Each bravely fills his station,
Our canny corporation,

Lang may they sing wi' me."

Song—" The Keel Row."

RHYMES AND PROVERBS ON THE RIVERS AND
MOUNTAINS OF NORTHUMBERLAND.

Rivers.
1. The Coaly Tyne.

The pride which the people of Newcastle take in their noble
river absolutely amounts to a passion ; they speak of it with a

310 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

"warmth of affection which stnuigers can with difficulty under-
stand ; they celebrate it in their local songs, and a word said in
its depreciation is resented as an insult. The keelnien are fre-
quently heard singing some of the songs written in honour of
their stream, and the following strain is almost sure to be heard
by every visitor of Newcastle : —

" Tyne river running rough or smooth,
Makes bread for me and mine ;
Of all the rivers north or south,
There's none like coaly Tyne.

" So here's to coaly Tyne, my lads,
Success to coaly Tyne,
Of all the rivers north or south.
There's none like coaly Tyne."

It is not surprising that the people of Newcastle should be so
fond of their noble river, for it is difficult to describe the un-
interrupted scene of activity and wealth exhibited along its
banks from New burn to the lighthouse at North Shields, a
distance of ] 7 miles.

2. The Tyne, the Tees, the Till, the Tarset, and the Tweed,
The Alne, the Blyth, the Font, the Tarret, and the Reed.

The above, with iane exception, are the names of the principal
Northumbrian rivers or their tributaries.

3. The Tees, the Tyne, and Tweed, the Tarset and the Till,
The Team, the Font, and Pont, the Tippal and the Dill.

A mere variation of No. 2, with the names of a few other
8trea,m§.

POPULAE EHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NOETHUMBEELAND. 311

4. Tweed said to Till,

" What makes j'c run so still ? "
Till said to Tweed,
" Tlio' ye run wi' speed,
And I run slaw,
Yet, where ye drown ae man
I drown twa."

In general the Tweed is a broad, shallow, and rapid river,
well supplied with fords or waths. Its southern tributary, the
Till, is, on the contrary, narrow, deep, and slow, with few or no
fords. The comparatively greater danger of the Till to those
attempting to cross it is expressed in the above verses.

See Chambers' Popular Rhymes of Scotland, p. 8, 3rd ed.,
1847, than which a more delightful book on popular archaeology
was never written.

The following are variorum readings of the above rhymes : —

5. Tweed said to Till,

" "What gars ye rin sae still ? "
Till said to Tweed,

" What gars ye rin sae gleed ?
For as slow as I go,
And as hard as ye rin,
A can drown twae men
"When ye can drown but yin."

Berwickshire version. — J.H.]

Till said to Tweed,

" "What makes ye rin sae reed ? " [i.e. red].
Tweed said to Till,

*' What makes ye rin sae still ? "

312 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Till said to Tweed,
" Though fast ye rin,
And still I gaun,
Yet I drown twae men
Where ye drown yen."

Wooler version. — [J.H.]

Still further variations exist.

7. One mile of Tyne's worth ten o' Tweed,

Except for beef and salmon and good brown breed.

A great truth told in a few words. Breed, i.e., bread.
[In Berwickshire it is said :

" A mile o' Tweed's worth twa o' Dee,
Except it be for bush or tree."

Var.— A mile o' Don, &c.— J.H.]

8. Says the Pont to the Blyth,

" Where thou drowns yan, I drown five ! "
Says the Blyth to the Pont,
" The mair shame on't."

The Pont and Blyth are two rivers in Northumberland. The
Pont rises a little to the south of St. Oswald's, in the parish
of St. John Lee, and after passing through Ponteland, to
the west of what was once Prestwick Carr, it empties itself into
the Cat-raw, which proceeds in a north-easterly direction to
Stannington Vale, and assumes the name of the Blyth river,
under which name the united streams flow to the sea at Blyth-
nook. The Blyth possesses the peculiar advantage of being
exempt from land floods. In full tides it has 16 feet of water
at the bar.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 313

9. Escaped the Tees, and was drowned in the Tyne.

The Welsh say, '■'■ To escape Cluyd and be drowned in
Conway."

Observe the alliteration in both proverbs.

10. Core of the Coquet.

Warton, a township in the parish of Rothbury, is famed in
tlie legendary tales of its inhabitants as having been the resi-
dence (>f a choice race of warriors who were the dread of the
Scottish Borderers. The above characteristic is spoken of the
land in this locality in token of the superiority of the soil. —
[Thomas Arkle.]

11. Tarsetburn and Tarretburn
Yet! Yet! Yet!

12. Up wi' Tarset aad Tarretburn, and down wi' the Eeed and
Tyne.

8ee notes on the above rhymes, under head of " Slogans," in
a former section.

13. Tarset and Tarsetburn,
Up wi' the Yettus !

The Yettus or Gatehouse, is a hamlet on Tarset, containing
four or five houses. Qy. Is the above addition modem ; or
has the Yettus in days of yore had a glory now departed.
[Contributed by Thomas Arkle.]

14. The Coquet Water.

The Northumbrians use the above expression in a peculiar
sense ; signifying thereby the district of the country immediately
adjoining the river bearing that name.

314

THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Wenning " Water side " is used in the ballad of Flodden
Field in the same sense. In the southern parts of the county of
Durham, we say Teeswater — the Tees- water breed of sheep.

15. Till the Cruel-syke wi' Scottis-blode rins rede,
Thoo maun na sowe corn by Tyne's side.

The Cruel-syke is a small rivulet high up on the Roman
Wall. This locality was so much ravaged by the Scottish
Borderers, that it was of no use sowing any crops there. At
last, however, they were defeated here, and the country had
rest.

16. The Picts are severed from the English ground. •
By Tweed, so-called of old, a certain bound.

This couplet is, I understand, an excerpt from an old poet,
whose name I am not acquainted with.

[The extract is from Gibson's Camden, fol. 1096, and is
translated from Alexander Necham's (died 1217) couplet:

Anglos a Pictis sejungit limite certo,

Flumen quod Tuedam pristina lingua vocat. — J. H.]

17. Ye've been i' the haugli anunder Lishaw.

EHshaw is a place on the north side of the Reed about two
miles above Otterburn. The valley of the Reed for the first
twelve miles of its course is comparatively narrow, but after
Elishaw is past the hills recede and leave a considerable breadth
of haughs, which in times of floods are covered with water.

Tradition relates, that once upon a time, an owner of Shittle-
heugh, a farm adjoining Elishaw, gave the Yetholm gipsies a
grant of a small haugh near the junction of Durtree burn with
the Reed. There the said gipsies used to encamp, and during
their stay had many merry meetings at an adjoining public-

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 315

house. One evening on returning to their camps after a hearty
carousal, a member of the party fell into the river, and was
carried away by the stream. The river being much swollen
and the night dark, his companions gave him up for lost.
After a brief period they were surprised and delighted by
hearing him call out for help. They enquired " Where are
you ? " and the reply was, " I'm i' the haugh an under Lishaw ; "
and this it is said was the origin of the expression.

To this day the haugh is the resort of travelling tinkers, yet
it is a privilege only enjoyed by prescriptive title, the formal
grant only existing in the mind of the claimants. [Thomas
Arkle.]

" You'll find it in the haugh anunder Lishaw,"

said when anything is lost. All the refuse swept down by
floods from the upper part of Kedesdale settles or is arrested
there. [Ibid.]

18. My rents i' the Coquet yet.

The Coquet is famous for its salmon, great numbers of which
are destroyed in autumn when they ascend the river for the
purpose of spawning. This used to be done with a loio and a
leister. Formerly bodies of Redesdale (Rogues) and Tynedale
(Thieves) men visited the Coquet for the sake of its salmon.
Concealment was not attempted ; the safety of the party from
arrest depending upon its numerical strength and courage.
Many a dismal fray arose out of these nocturnal expeditions,
and fearful wounds were inflicted with the formidable instru-
ments used in their pursuit. The Coquetsiders are the only
men who now follow this illegal practice ; and in favorable
seasons it is to the Rothbury Idlers a source of considerable
income ; so much so, that the payment of the rent of their
small holdings frequently depends upon the success of their

316 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

aquatic exertions. Hence has arisen the expression. — " My rent's
in the Coquet yet." [Thomas Arkle.]

19. Sin' the days o' Gilligacus,

There's been fishers on the Tweed.

I can meet with no satisfactory explanation of these rhymes.
Gilligacus is evidently intended for Galgacus.

20. Kothbury Thrum will be the ruin of us all.

A little to the east of Rothbury the Coquet flows through a
narrow gorge with precipitous rocks on each side. When the
river is swollen the whole of the bottom, which consists of solid
stone, is covered with water; but in dry seasons the flow is
restricted to a channel some fifteen feet wide, scooped out of the
rock by the powerful and long-continued action of the stream.
Here the confined current, surging and foaming, flows with great
rapidity. It is said to have been formerly of much less width,
but on one or two individuals having been drowned in attempt-
ing to leap across, the rock was cut away to prevent a repetition
of the experiment. Such is the place familiarly known as
Rothbmy Thrum.

The above expression is, or at least was, a very common one
amongst the seamen on the Thames (!) and this affords another
instance of a local saying travelling far from the place of its
origin. About thirty-five years ago a Mr. Taylor, from the
neighbourhood of Rothbury, was stationed near York as an
excise officer. During one of his rounds he was accosted by
three fellows soliciting charity in the character of shipwrecked
seamen. On inquiry where the disaster had happened, he was
told in Rothbury Thrum. Pleased to hear the name of a place
with which he had been familiar in boyhood, Mr. Taylor gave
them a shilling, with the admonition never more to make the
Thrum the scene of their calamity. — [Thomas Arkle.]

POPULAE RHYMES, ETC., BELATING TO NOETHUMBEELAND. 317

Mount AiKs.

1. When Cheevyut ye see put on his cap,
Of rain yelle have a wee bit drap.

A Northumbrian mountain rhyme, copied from Notes and

Queries^ vol. viii. 326. Cheevyut, i.e. Cheviot hills.

[Variety : Wlien Cheviat tap
Puts on his cap,
Of rain we'll hae' a wee bit drap.]

2. It's gaun to be a wat day the morn ;
Cheviot's got on his night -cap.

[The above is the Wooler version of the saying.]
[In the surrounding district they also say, if the hill is
covered with mist in the earlv morning, and the mist descends,
" Cheviot's drawn down his night-cap ; it's going to be a wet
day ; " or if the mist rises, " Cheviot's put off his night-cap ;
it's going to be fine." One version of a Roxburghshire saying
on these mist caps is —

When Cheviot gets on his cap,

And Ruberslaw her hood,
A' the wives o' Kale and Beaumont
May expect a flude.

In the central parts of Roxburghshire the saying becomes
more strictly local : —

When Ruberslaw puts on his cowl,

The Dunion on his hood,
Then a' the wives o' Teviotside
Ken there will be a flood.
Or in another form :

When Dunion he puts on his cap,

And Ruberslaw his hood.

All the wives in Alewater may expect a flood.* — J.H,]

* Chambers' Popular Rhymes, p. 374 ; Life and Times of William
Thamson, p. 160,

318 THE DENHAM TEACTS.

If Clieviot is thrice white before the term, it is a sign of an open
mild winter.

This is a Wooler saying. The " term " meant is old Martin-
mas. Of similar import there is a Roxburghshire saying —

" If there's ice in November that will bear a duck,
There'll be nothing after but sludge and muck."

There is also a local proverb in the Baltic, known among
sailors, that ice having " early come, would early go."

3. The Appenines of England.

That range of hills v.diich extends from Allendale in this
county, to the western angle of the Bishopric, and forms a
barren region, is crossed by another range of mountains which,
though none of them rise to any height, has not inaptly been
termed the Appenines of England.

4. From John o' Groat's House to the Cheviot Hills.

A northern simile, perhaps more Scots than Northumbrian.

RHYMES, PROVERBS, &c. ON CERTAIN TOWNS, VIL-
LAGES, &c. IN NORTHUMBERLAND.

Rude, rough and rusty Relics of a former Age.

Northumberland for ever.

This is a sort of cri de guerre which, when a young lad, and
living within two miles of the Border, I have heard scores of
times. The occasions on which I have heard it were football
plays, wrestlings, foot races, &c., in which the young men on

POPULAE RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 319

both sides of the Marches were assembled as competitors.
Whenever a Coquetdale or Redesdale man distinguislied him-
self in these §ames, his friends and countrymen never failed to
give utterance to their chivalric feelings by the cry above quoted ;
for instance, when a Northumbrian wrestler threw his antagonist
of Teviotdale, the welkin immediately rang with —

Northoomberland for ever !

From the MS. gatherings of my good friend, Mr. James
Telfer, Saughtree, Liddesdale.

2. Northumberland. — If you don't like it leave it.

In The Properties of the Shyres of England printed by Heame,
in the fifth vol. of Leland's Itinerary, we find this county thus
characterised : —

Northumberland hasty and hoot,

"Westmerland thrut Scotte.

The saying is doubtless indicative of the independent bearing
of tie natives of the county, which may they long retain.

3. Northumberland, the fore door into Scotland.

This county is so termed by some of our early writers ; as
also is Cumberland, the back door.

The importance of Berwick induced the English to fortify
the town to the utmost extent it was capable of; so that after
1482 it remained as a gate between the kingdoms barred against
the Scots, but ever open to their enemies of England.

4. The autumn of the year is the summer of Northumberland.

I give this on the authority of Mr. Hodgson, the historian of
Northumberland, [This is not a popular saying.]

320

THE DBNHAM TRACTS.

5. Nortlmmberland had almost as many castles for defence as
parish churches for the service of God.

This is an assertion of Peter Heylin, and he explains it " on
account of bad neighbourhood " In 1260 there were in this
county thirty-seven castles, and eighty-seven towers of defence.
— Local History.

G. Fair Northumberland.

This characteristic, which is of undoubted antiquity, is used
by Drayton. See Polyolbion, song 33. Hear also the opening
stanzas of a song in honor of this county : —

" I've roved through pleasant England,
Her towns and hamlets fair ;
Upon her shores I've lingered,

And breathed her mountain air :
I've seen her fruitful counties

O'er sweeping plains expand ;
But none like thee can charm me,
My own Northumberland."

Rohert White.

The woeful Wednesday of the Wreckhill,

The above sorrowful saying, which has descended even to the
present generation, arose on account of the hamlet of Wreckhill
(now spelt Wreighill) being pillaged and nearly totally destroyed
by a numerous party of Scottish freebooters, who besieged and
killed most of the inhabitants on Wednesday, the 25th day of
May, 1412.

In 1665 nearly the whole of this village was swept away by
the plague, which was introduced here in a small parcel sent
from London to Miss Handy side. — From the Local Histories.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 32 I

1. Wide as Rimside Moor.

2. I wadna' be on Rimside Aloor to-night wi' a black pig by the
tail.

3. If ye were on Rimside Moor at twelve o'clock at night, wi' a
black sow by the tail, ye wadna' be here to-night again.

These proverbial sayings the Northumberland yeomen are
wont to recount on a dark and stormy night. Rimside Moor is
a bleak, heathy waste, stretching from near the Morpeth and
Wooler Road, over the uplands behind Rothbury. To a North-
umbrian the first expression conveys an idea of indefinite extent.
When wrapt in the darkness of night the passage across it, as in
all moorland tracts, is particularly dreary and lonesome. In
former times it was deemed almost impossible for a stranger to
ti'averse it at untimely hours without loosing himself in its
trackless wilds, or being subjected to the infamous outrages of
the midnight robber. Happily such is not the case now.

The following specimen of an old ballad entitled " The Black
"Sow o' Rimside and the Monks of the Holy Island," is illustra-
tive of the goodly things the holy men of the sacred isle were
accustomed to derive from their possessions on the mainland, in
the production of which dainties those places, as their name
would impart, have enjoyed a long and deserved celebrity : —

From Goswick we've geese, and from Cheswick we've cheese,

From Buckton we've ven'son in store ;
From Swinhoe we've bacon, but the Scots have it taken,

And the Prior is longing for more.

Local Hist. Table Booh, Leg., Div. iii, 34, 35. Raine's
North Durham, p. 181.

[The anonymous article from which this is taken in the
Tahle Book was of my contribution. The supposed old ballad
'' The Black Sow o' Rimside." &c. (perhaps suggested as to
title by " The Felon Sow of Rokeby, and the Friars of Rich-

322 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

mond "), had, I believe, never any existence ; and the Eev.
James Raine may be credited with the authorship of the four
lines quoted. The saying " It would be a hard task to follow a
black dockit sow through a burnt muir this night," occurs in
Hislop's Scottish Proverbs, p. 192. In a poem, The Cottagers of
Glendale, in H. S. Riddell's Poems, p. 13, the saying crops up
in the dark hills on the confines of Selkirk and Peebleshire : —

" Guid help them that are out the night,"

Said the auld man in private ;
'' If set them on o' Minchmoor Head,
Wi' black sow by the tail (o lead,

They wadna' laug survive it." — J. H.]

Blaydon bred
And Meldon fed.
But Dilston ha'
Destroyed it a'.

These rhymes evidently relate to the cattle bred at Blaydon,
parish of Ryton, in the Bishopric, and fed on the rich pasturage
of Meldon, which were all consumed in the munificent hos-
pitality of the Derwentwater family. — J. H.]

[" Scotland breeds, and England feeds," is an old proverb,
obsolete since the turnip husbandry was introduced. — Hogg's
Shepherd's Guide, p. 294.]

According to R. W., the author of Cheviot, a poetical fragment,
Dilston became celebrated in history at a very early period, in
fact, immediately preceding the evangelising of the people of
Northumbria ; and in a fashion too far dififerent to the hospi-
talities of a festive board.

At Dilston, RatcHffe's house, renowned in fight,
St. Oswald, the Devil Cedwell put to flight,
Oswald, his cause and resolution good,
Turned to a field of Heav'n — a field of blood.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC.^ RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 323

[According to some, Hefenfeld, where Cadwallo perished, is
Bingfield. — Turner's Hist, of Anglo- Saxons, \). 288.]

Gallaly Castle stands on a height,
Up in the day and down in the night ;
Set it up on the Shepherd's Shaw,
There it will stand and never fa'.

[Another reading is " Callaly ha' stands upon a height."]
Like many other ancient structures Callaly Castle was not
built without the manifestation of supernatural agency. It was
originally designed to erect it on a hill not far from that on
which the present castle stands, but the interposition of an
invisible agent compelled the builders to adopt a new site. At
the first commencement of the building, the work done during
the day was in unaccountable manner levelled with the ground
during the night. To discover the reason of this mysterious
interruption a watch was set, which remained till midnight
without witnessing any symptoms of injury or hostility to the
work ; suddenly, however, a strange commotion was perceived
to have commenced among the closely compacted materials.
Each individual stone gradually rose upon its end and fell
noiselessly to the ground. No agency was discernible ; but the
process of demolition gradually proceeded till the whole masonry
was once more reduced to a ruinous heap, and then a loud voice
giving utterance to the above prophetic rhymes was heard
issuing from the midst of the ruins. The site was forthwith
abandoned, and, the work being recommenced on the spot
pointed out, Callaly Castle in due season became proud in the
grandeur of her stern battlements and defended with the valiant
arm of a warlike race bade, during a lengthened period, defiance
to both foe and time.

An old tower alone remains of the ancient edifice. The

Y 2

324 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

modern mansion was the seat of tlie family of Clavering, who
liacl been settled there from a remote period. It has recently
become the property of Major Browne.

[The illustration is borrowed from my article on the subject
in Richardson's Table Booh, iii., p. 109. I obtained the infor-
mation from a native of Tyneside. But there is another side of
the legend, although not quite so poetical, for it reduces it to a
sham, which has been given by Mr. George Tate, F.G.S., in an
article on " Wliittingham Yale." contributed to the Alnwick
Mercury in 1862. It is to this purport : —

" A lord of Callaly, in the days of yore, commenced erecting a
castle on the hill ; his lady preferred a low, sheltered situation in the
vale. She remonstrated ; but her lord was wilful, and the building
continued to progress. What she could not obtain by persuasion she
sought to achieve by stratagem, and availed herself of the super-
stitious opinions and feelings of the age. One of her servants, who
was devoted to her interests, entered into her scheme ; he was dressed
up like a boar, and nightly he ascended the hill and pulled down all
that had been built during the day. It was soon whispered that the
spiritual powers were opposed to the erection of a castle on the hill ;
the lord himself became alarmed, and he sent some of his retainers to
watch the building during the night and discover the cause of the
destruction. Under the influence of the superstitions of the times
those retainers magnified appearances, and when the boar issued from
the wood and commenced overthrowing the work of the day, they
beheld a monstrous animal of enormous power. Their terror was
complete when the boar, standing among the overturned stones, cried
out in a loud voice —

Callaly Castle built on the height.
Up in the day and down in the night ;
Builded down in the Shepherd's Shaw,
It shall stand for aye and never fa'.

They immediately fled and informed the lord of the supernatural
visitation ; and, regarding the rhymes as an expression of the will of

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 325

heaven, he abandoned the work, and in accordance with the wish of
his lady built his castle low down in the vale, where the modern
mansion now stands." — J. H.]

The Cheviots for muttons,

And Chillingham for beeves,
Newcastle for its whores,

And Kedesdale for thieves.

The first trio retain their ancient celebrity down to the
present moment; but the profession of thieving which was
innate a couple of centuries ago, or even less, in the inhabitants
of Tindale and Redesdale has now given place to honesty ; and
the difference between meum and tuwn is as much known there
as in any other district of England.

In A Dialogue hothe pleasaunt and pietifidl, by William
Bullein, 1564, a beggar in answer to the question, " I pray
you what countrie man be you?" Answer, " Savying your
honour, gud maistresse, I was borne in Redesdale in North-
umberlande, and came of a wight ridyng sirname called the
Robsons. gud lionast men and true, savyng a little shiftyng for
their living. God and our leddie help them, silie pure men."

Grey, Chorographia, 1649, says^ " There is many every year
brought in of them " (the thieves of Tindale and Redesdale)
" unto the gaole of Newcastle, and at the assizes are condemned
and hanged, sometimes twenty or thirty."

A worthy Newcastle merchant once informed me that a
tradition had been handed down by his progenitors, that as
many as twenty of their kith and kin and all bearing the same
good old yeomanly sirname were hung at Newcastle in one day
for their reiving predilections.

Camden in his Britannia has a passing remark on the men of
Redesdale.

326 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

See Stephen Oliver, the younger's, Rambles in Northumber-
land, chap, iv., 130-140.

Mitford was Mitford when Morpeth was nane,

And Mitford shall be Mitford when Morpeth is gane.

[Var : Mitford was Mitford when Morpeth was nyen,

Mitford will be Mitford, when Morpeth is gyen.j

The above is doubtless a very ancient Northumbrian prophecy.
The village of Mitford is most delightfully situated at the con-
fluence of the rivers Wansbeck and Font, two miles west of
Morpeth. There is a similar saying on Edinburgh and
Musselburgh.

Morpeth town shall come to nought,

And Prudhoe Castle fall.
And all the town of Monkchester

Shall be without a wall,

A second prophecy anent the '' awde burrow towne o^
Morpeth ; " which if the prophetic rhymes are to be credited
seems destined at no distant period to " come to nought." In
the days of Leland it was a " far fayrer towne than Alnwicke ; "
but now how altered is the fact ! The removal of the assizes was
the first blow in late years, the second, the burglary committed
by its rich and overgrown neighbour Newcastle, when it not
only took away its fairs, but its markets ; and thirdly the
railway was destined to remove the last traces of its town -like
appearance by doing away with stage-coaches and post-horses.
It has already suffered two awful conflagrations, viz : In the
thirteenth and seventeenth centuries ; and if the third should
chance to visit it in the twenty-first century, so far from rising
again like a phosnix from its ashes I much fear that, like the city
of Barnscar, in Cumberland^ it will fall to rise no more.

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 327

Prudhoe Castle was tenanted 1557 ; but in 1596 was reported
as old and ruinous. It is now a mass of extensive ruins.

Even so late as in the '45, the walls and gates of Newcastle
were in a tolerable state of repair; and on account of the
rebellion, which broke out at the latter part of that year, they
were planted with two hundred pieces of cannon. At the cor-
responding period in the next century, scarcely one stone of
either wall or gate remained upon another.

Cold Wydon stands on a hill,
Hungry Redpath looks at it still.

Redpath and Wydon are two villages in the vale of Blen-
kinsop, near Gilsland.

Smoky Shields.

So obvious as scarcely to require an explanatory note. See
Dibdin^s Northern Tour.

It is always dry land over to Holy Island during service time on a
Sunday.

This relic has been handed down to us from an extremely
early period. I believe that it is alluded to by Reginald, one of
earliest of Lindisfarne's historians. There is, however, no
occasion whatever to assign the ebb-tide at Holy Island to the
miraculous interposition of Providence. It may so happen
that the tide does so ebb naturally at the time in question, or, as
it is rather a peculiar case, may not the hour of service be
altered so as to suit the tide ? This island is twice a day
separated from the mainland by a depth of five, and in spring-
tides of seven feet of water and twice a day it is accessible on
dry laud. Its greatest distance from the coast scarcely exceeds

328 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

two miles ; but the pathway, at all times dangerous, is con-
siderably lengthened by pools and quicksands.

Dryshod, o'er sands, twice every day,
The pilgrims to the shrine find way ;
Twice every day the waves efface,
Of staves and sandall'd feet the trace.

Mormion.

When ye lang for a mutton bone
Think on the Wedderstone.

The Wedderstone stands in a field near the village of Catton
in Allendale. Tradition states that many years ago a notorious
sheep-stealer infested this part of the county, who, it appears,
was the terror of the whole of the neighbouring farmers ; in the
first place because he appeared to be a good judge of mutton,
from the fact of his generally taking the choice of the flock ;
and in the second place, that, although he paid a visit to every
sheep-fold for several miles around, and to many where a strict
watch was kept, he remained unsuspected; neither was there
the slightest suspicion as to who the thief might be. At length,
however, the invisible became visible. It appeared that his
method of carrying off his booty was to tie the four legs of the
animal together, and then, by putting his head through the
space between the feet and body, thus carry it away on his
shoulders. On his last visit to his neighbour's flock, the animal
which he had selected for his week's provision beirig heavy, he
stopped to rest himself, and placed his burden upon the top of a
small stone column (without taking it off his shoulders), when
the animal became suddenly restive, commenced struggling,
and slipped off the stone on the opposite side. Its weight being
thus suddenly drawn round his neck, the poor wretch was
unable to extricate himself, and was found on the following
morning ^uite dead,

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 329

A similar story is told by Fuller of the Hanging Stone in
Devonshire. Worthies of England, i. 273. [The Hanging
Stone on Cheviot has a similar legend, as has another Hanging
Rock near Gordon, Berwickshire, although it probably obtained
its name originally from its suspended attitude. — J. H.]

In the Castle Bank lies a bull's hide of gold,
But there it shall lie, unseen — untold,
Until nine sons and their widowed mother,
The charm shall break and the gold discover.

The above is traditionally said to be one of the many pro-
phecies attributed to old Mother Shipton, and applies to Castle
Banks, near Haltwhistle. On the south side of this eminence,
and near its summit, is a spring in a hollow, which converts
about twenty feet in diameter into a bog or morass ; here,
according to tradition, a bull's hide filled with gold lies buried,
which can only be raised by a widow with nine sons.

There will be three great battles.
One at Northumberland Bridge,
One at Cumberland Bridge,
And the other the south side of Trent.

An old prophecy attributed to Nixon, the Cheshire prophet.

The lang gaunts o' Elishaw
Were heard in't loans o' Blakelaw.

Gaunts — sighs, yawns.

Loans. — The places where cows are milked in a common
pasture are so called in the North of England and the South of
Scotland.

The saying though now applied to the sighings of lovers in
general is often heard as " the lang gaunts o' Elishaw," and is

330 THE DENHA.M TRACTS.

supposed by a Redesdale correspondent of the writer to refer
'^ to some feud in which the people of Elishaw took terrible
vengeance on the folks o' Blakelaw." Blakeman's Law, as its
name implies, is a hill near Elishaw on the opposite side of the
Durtree burn. There is also a Blakelaw, two and a half miles
from Newcastle, and another near Bellingham. — [Thomas
Arkle. Mr. Arkle noted that this saying is also spoken of
in regard to two places near the Tweed, but he could not find
his reference.]

In the History of the Benvickshire Naturalists'* Club, viii. pp.
129-130, note, Mr. Thomas Craig gives a Roxburghshire varia-
tion, which concerns Elliesheugh on the Beaumont in the parish
of Hownam. " A local saying was at one time very popular,
that,

The lang Gaunts of EUisheugh,
Were heard at Blackden lane.

Oral tradition affirms that the saying originated in the cir-
cumstance of a noisy family of the name of Gaunt having at one
time lived at Elliesheugh ; though in lapse of time many
supposed it to mean the ' lang gaunts ' (yawns) of an unusually
sleepy hamlet population." — J. H.j

Rothbury for goats' milk,
And the Cheviots for mutton,
Cheswick for its cheese and bread,
And Tynemouth for a glutton.

Rothbury is bounded on the east by a lofty ridge of steep and
rugged rocks, which extends a distance of four miles. Among
these craggy cliffs a number of goats were once grazed to supply
the valetudinarians who resorted thereto during the summer
season with goats-milk and whey, which delicacies, in conjunc-

i

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 331

tion with the sakibrious air of the place, often produced wonder-
ful effects, in bracing the relaxed tone of the nervous system.

The Cheviot Hills occupy an area of nearly 95,000 acres. On
the Cheviot, from which all the others in that extensive range
take their name, is a large loch which is often frozen at Mid-
summer. [This loch, which figures in several of the local
histories, is merely a few " moss-holes," of which one or two of
no great extent do not dry up in summer. They are the sources
of the Coldgate and College burns.] In Kidland lordship the
sheep of the Cheviot breed are found in the greatest perfection,
the sweet herbage on which they depasture being peculiarly
favourable for feeding and breeding these useful animals. Here
they are never visited with the rot, or subjected to any other
disease except what is termed pineing ; and of this they can
easily be cured by removing for a few weeks those which are
affected to a soil incumbent on freestone.

The ancient celebrity of Cheswick for its cheese is already
sung. See note to sayings on Rimside Moor, p. 321.

Take him, Satax ! take him !

In the year 1195 William Pigun, who wore the habit, but
was not a monk, was a most wicked hypocrite among reli-
gious men. This villain, observing that the seal of his monastery
of St. Albans was not watched as it might have been, found an
opportmiity to steal it, and committing a forgery with it, was
banished from that house to the cell of Thinemue, there to do
perpetual penance for his crime. Being implacable, he often
bitterly cursed the abbot who sent him to Tynemouth, but all
his curses fell upon his own head ; for falling asleep in the
priory, after eating and drinking to excess, he never waked
again ; and the monks who were in the cloister and dorture,
distinctly heard a voice crying in a most vehement manner,
Take him, Satan ! take him Satan ! {Brand).

332 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

The Wind's in Howick Hole.

[In Northumberland, storms from the south-east are so said
to come, and are anything but appreciated . — J. H.]

In the olden time, when round hearths were used, there rose
a sort of unmannerly proverb, " Neighbour, is the wind in
your hole this morning ? " among the country people, the
meaning of which is, ^' Have you the conveniency of keeping
in your fire to-day ? Wind-hearths had holes under them
which were pierced straight through the foundation of the house.
Hearths of similar construction are still used in the peat and
turf burning districts of the North of England. [Var. :
" There's never any good comes out o' Howick Hole," or " It's
gaun to be bad weather, the wind's out o' Howick Hole." In
Berwickshire we substitute '' Lamsdean Hole." — J. H.]

Hearts is Trumps at Eshott Hall.

The gentleman who kindly communicated the above, and
many other popular rhymes and proverbs, which greatly en-
hance the value of the present collection favoured me with the
following remarks : — '' I have often heard this at Newcastle
when a boy. It seems to have referred to the golden age of
squirealty, when })laying at cards was nearly their only employ-
ment, and the occurrence of a certain kind of trump an accident
of sufficient importance to be thrown into a proverb ; but at
what period the remarkable fact was at first established will
perhaps always remain in obscurity. It can scarcely be placed
earlier than Queen Anne, certainly not later than the American
war."

Eshott Hall is within a short distance of Felton. The pro-
perty at different ages has been in possession of the De Eshott,
Bertram, Heron, and CaiT families, but has long since passed

I

POPULAR RHYMES^ ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 333

from the good old Northumbrian race of Carrs. The Carrs of
Eshott were in good esteem in tlie nortli, and were referred
to and considered what may be called the principal house of the
name in the " north countree."

It's no' a Byword, like Hebbron Kirk.

Hebburn (properly so spelt) church was rebuilt in 1793.
In 1674, Dr. Basire, at his visitation, found the chapel " most
scandalously and dangerously ruinous ; roof divided, under-
propt within with eight crutches, without with three ; the seats
all upturned and broken." [Is this a genuine saying ? The
village referred to is Hebburn in Bothal parish, Morpeth ward.
—J. H.]

It's Wednesday at Morpeth, Thursday at Longtowii, and Friday at
Allendale Town.

A Northumbrian answer when one person enqm'res of another
what day< of the week it is. The days given in the text are
those in which the respective towns hold their markets. — [J. H ]

Hartley and Hallowell, a' ya' bonnie lassie,
Fair Seatoii Delaval, a' ya',
Earsdon stands on a liill, a' ya',
Near to Billy Mill, a' ya'.

Hartley, a township and considerable village, is situated near
the sea, five and a half miles north of North Shields.

Hallowell, or Holywell, a township and a small village five
and a half miles north-west by west of North Shields. It
derives its name from Saint Mary's Well, the waters of which
are medicinal and become of a puce colour with an infusion of
nut-galls.

334 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Seaton Delaval, a township six and a half miles north-west of
North Shields, near to which are the ruins of Seaton Delaval
Hall, which, previous to its destruction by fire, 3rd Jan., 1822,.
was one of the most noble mansions in the north. This ruined
and deserted seat is the property of Lord Hastings.

Earsdon, a pleasant and well-built village, is seated on a
rocky eminence, two and a half miles west of the sea, three and
a half from North Shields, and eight miles from Newcastle.

Billy Mill is in the parish of Tynemouth.

" A' ya' bonnie lassie." Brockett, in his Glossary of North
Country Words, under " A you a hinny," says the expression
is used by northern nurses as a lullabee. Vide Brand's Pop.
Ant., 8vo and 4to, 1810 ; Bell's Northern Rhymes, 296 :

There's Sandgate for old rags,
A you, hinny Burd,
And Gallowgate for trolly bags,
A you a.

Newcastle Song.

The Meadow Bank grows clover rank,
And Cheeseburn Grange grows tansy ;
But go I will, to the 8tob Hill,
And court my bonny Nancy.

Cheeseburn Grange is in the parish of Stamfordham. Stob-
Hill is the name of a farmstead in the same parish. Of Meadow
Bank I can gather nothing from the authorities before me.

Alnwick.
Alnwick famed for bloody battles and bogs.

[For its battles and sieges, see the County Histories.]

POPULAR EHTMESj ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 335
2. Canny Annick and its ten miles round.

" I would venture to hope that the revolutionary waves which
are sweeping away the customs of the olden times may still
spare to canny Annick and its ten miles round the picturesque
and joyous spectacle of going through the well." — Mr. George
Tate, Provincial Souvenir and Eastern Border Annual, 1846. —
[J. H.]

Go TO Heckley Fexce.

Equivalent to the exclamation used by a poor fellow when he
is harassed by some testy disputants of " Go to the devil ! "
Heckley fence is a farm in the neighbourhood of Alnwick.

Its like the Butter o' Halterburn.

That is, " it would neither rug nor rive, nor cut wi' knife —
it was confounded." From the latter part at least of this doubt-
less befitting description, it is most evident that the butter was
bewitched. [Sent by J. H. — A Roxburgh, &c., saying. Be-
witching had nothing to do with it. The milk had not been
properly syled, and the kirn had not been clean, and the conse-
quence would be a compound of butter, hair, and dish-clout.
Halterburn is on the Borders, near Yetholm.]

Question. "Where have ye been to-day ?
Answer. Where the devil hanged his grannie.

[The devil hanged his grannie on " the bowed rock on tho
brae," a hanging crag, on the slope of Doddington Hill, that
faces Wooler. It is a cavernous rock — one of Cuddy's or St.
Cuthbert's coves — and has cut on its sides a few Runic cha-
racters, and on its top some of those mysterious cup-markings

336 The denham teacts.

and circles, ascribed to the ancient Britons, which are so frequent
on this hill. On the summit of the rock, which is of sandstone,
the rain gathers into little circular pools, which, being whirled
about by the wind and partly filled with sand, are becoming
deeper and deeper. These empty themselves when full along
many deep gutters, round the brow of the rock, that resemble
hollows made by ropes fraying the softer parts of the stone.
The " devil's grand-dame " and "dam" are mentioned in ^wdi-
hras. Elsewhere on the Borders we find the devil dissatisfied
with his "fore-elders." In Roxburghshire, according to Dr.
Brydone of Hawick, the devil dwelt in a cave in that wild
moorland now occupied by Hellmuir Loch, and his mother was
his housekeeper. One morning he awoke early, as he had a
busy day before him, having to brand and dispose of a large
number of apostates, whom he had caught the day before.
Finding his porritch not ready, and his mother still sleeping, he
flew into a passion, seized a huge stone and dashed her brains
out, and in the ecstacy of his frenzy dragged her body across
the country till, becoming tired, he threw her into a deep pool
in a burn on the farm of Stonedge, which pool is called the
DeviPs Cauldron till this day. She was heavy, and her body
ploughed up the land and made the Catrail. — History of Ber-
icickshire Naturalists' Club, vii., p. 75. — J. H.]

RUNCHES AND WiLD OaTS ARE THE BaDGE OF BaMBOROUGHSHIRE.

The tillage lands in that district are grievously overrun with
these weeds. When the " Bunch" is in bloom the appearance
is called " the Yellow Fever."— [J. H.]

There's walth o' kye i' bonny Braidlees ;
There's walth o' yowes i' Tyne ;
There's walth o' gear i' Gowanburn ;
And they shall all be thine.

A quatrain quoted by the Ettrick Shepherd, Tales and

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 337

Sketches, vol. ii., p. 126. It is evidently a relic of a Scots
nursery freebooting song, singularly illustrative' of the happy
manner in which the nurses and grandames of the good old
Border times fulfilled the delightful task of teaching "the
young idea how to shoot," pouring " the fresh instructions o'er
the mind," breathing the " enlivening spirit," and fi.xing " the
hostile purpose in the glowing breast."

[I sent this to Mr. Denham, but I doubt if it is a veritable
rhyme. — J. H.]'

Twice burned.
Twice robbed,
And once sunk,
And then farewell to Hesleyside.

Tliere are no particular traditions of the ancient family of
Charlton of Hesleyside. This Border sept held that estate in the

reign of Edward I Sir Edward Charlton

was out with Charles I., and raised a troop of horse for that
luckless monarch. The spur of the Charlton is at Hesleyside.

The mansion of Hesleyside was twice burned and twice
robbed during the last century, but as yet it shows no outward
or visible sign of sinking, either in a figurative or actual
sense.

Waterless Walwick stands on the hill ;

Hungry Humshaugh looks at it still :

Cockelaw and Keepick stand in a raw,

There's mawks in the kirn at Easington Ha'.- [J.H.]

Walwick, in the parish of Warden, a district rich in historical
and legendary reminiscences.

Humshaugh is in the parish of Simonburn.

Cocklaw is in the parish of St. John Lee.

Keepick or Keepwick is in the townshij) of Cocklaw.

338 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

[Easington Ha' is probably a farm near tlic otlier places.
Mawks are maggots. I obtained this rhyme from a native of
Tyneside. — J. H.]

Rattenuaw Burn will not make a Crowdy aftkr May Day.

Rattenraw stands on the south side of the Reed, about three-
quarters of a mile from Elisliaw, another village of gipsy
notoriety. The land which now forms part of a farm consti-
tuted, some thirty years ago, five occupations, and probably at
a remote period there may have been double that number. The
tenants, however, of such primitive holdings were necessarily
poor, each raising a quantity of corn which the greatest economy
could scarcely make sufficient to re-sow the ground and support
the family till the succeeding harvest. The result was that very
little of any sort of grain remained on hand after seed time.
Hence arose the saying as a satire on the poverty of the
inhabitants.

When the corn made an approach to ripeness, small patches
of the most forward might have been observed cut for the pur-
pose of being hurried to the mill to make food for the expectant
household. Rattenraw was no exception in this respect ; yet
the state of society was there more strongly marked. There,
too, the Hungry Hook was last seen "flying" before it bade a
final farewell to the Yale of the Reed. When portions of grain
were cut in a partially green state, the neighbours were wont to
observe, " The Hungry Hook is flying," and when any one
inquired the cause of the premature cutting, the invariable reply
was, " We want fog for the cow," thus endeavouring to draw a
veil over a condition which mankind in general are fain to
conceal. — [Thomas Arkle.]

[The Cuckoo will not appear as long as the Flail is heard

AT PaUPERHAUGH.

The farm of Pauperhaugh is situated on the north bank of the

POPULAR RHYMES^ ETC., RELATINa TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 3.39

Coquet, Jibout three miles below Rothbuiy. At the time when
this reproachful taunt had its origin, the land there was doubt-
less divided, like that at Rattenraw just mentioned, into very
small holdings, the tenants of which were poor, and this cir-
cumstance may, perhaps, account for the unenviable designation
which yet attaches to the place. In those days little of the grain
remained unthrashed after seed time, and the welcome spring
visitant on her first approach would generally witness empty
' stackyards.

The state of society in the upland vales of Northumberland,
which elicited from the officers of Elizabeth's government such
complaints of the country being overburthened with people,
gradually disappeared, but this saying affords evidence that it
lingered at Pauperhaugh after a new order of things had been
established at most of the adjoining hamlets. — Thomas Arkle.]

Hunterley Dunterley stands on yon hill,

Hungry Hesleyside looks at it still,

The Reins and the Riding, Longhaugh, and the Shaw,

Bellingliam, Bogglehole, and the Iver Ha'

The little man o' the moulting striddles o'er them a'.

" [Nearly all these places are in the neighbourhood of Hesley-
side. The " little man of the moulting," or malt-kiln, was one
Archibald Reed, who held a mortgage over the property, from
which the owners at last extricated themselves. See at greater
length in Mr. Denham's original work, pp. 119-121.]

The Hobthrush of Elsdon Moat.

In the district of Elsdon the Hobthrush goblin is locally
known by the name of Hobthrush. One of these beings of the
imagination was wont to visit Elsdon Moat in days of old, and
as became him, brownie-like, performed a great amount of

z2

310 THE DEKHAM TKACTP.

liousehold and other labour. He wore a shocking bad hat, as
the story goes, and out of commiseration, for far, very far
from it was the purpose of banishment intended, the inmates
placed a new one in his accustomed haunt, when like the Cauld
liad o' Hylton and the Brownie o'Bodsbeck, he disappeared
uttering a shorter though somewhat similar wailing cry —

New hat, new hootl,
Hobthrush 'ill do no more good.

The lively imagination of our ancestors seems by joining a
portion of the attributes of the different genii to have created a
third, and this process being continuously repeated, the result
was, that there was scarcely a spot of earth on the habitable
globe which had not its own particular sprite. [Thomas
Arkle.]

ADDENDA.

Remnants of things that are passing away.
Siu John Fenwick, the flower amang them.

I recollect an old woman of Wallington used to repeat the
following fragment : —

Sir John Feenwick's a flower amang them,
He looked over his left shoulder, and bid the
Hexham lads gang hang them.

But why he looked over his left shoulder rather than his right,
and why he should bid the Hexham lads gang hang them ; and
whether the " them " was the lads themselves, I never could
make out. Private Correspondence, June, 1852.

Had we the good hap to have this once popular song before
us, I guess we should find that the command given by the fierce

POPULAR EHYMESj ETC., EELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 341

kiiyght of old was to be executed on some reiving rogues of
liedesdale, or canny Scots freebooters. [Very unlikely].

The fact of Sir John being represented as looking over his
left shoulder will be found to prevail pretty generally in ballad
lore.

Old Sea Gull.

The familiar appellation bestowed upon Lord Collingwood by
north country seamen.

Canny Laug Benton,
Bonny Seaton Delaval.

Characteristics met with in local song.

The Spittal wives are no' very nice,""

They bake their bread wi' bugs and lice ;

And after that they skin the cat,

And put it into then- kail-pot

Tliat makes then- broo' baith thick and fat.

It stands recorded on the page of history that, once upon a
time, Spittal (near Berwick-upon-Tweed) was the common
rendezvous of smugglers and vagabonds; bat happily they are
all driven from their coverts, and the inhabitants may now,
with certain exceptions here and there, be esteemed as both
honest and industrious. They are, however, pretty generally
looked upon by their more cleanly industrious neighbours as
somewhat mucky withal in their culinary operations.

The Gowks o' Davy Shields.
[Second Notice.]

Davy Shield, or Davoy Shield, is the vale traversed by the
Otter, which falls into the Reed at Otterburn. It consists at
this time of four farm houses, a shooting box, and a cottage,

342 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

yet, like other pastoral districts, bears unmistakeable marks of
depopulation. Whether the dwellers here were formerly gowks
above all the men who dwell in Redesdale, it is now, perhaps,
impossible to ascertain, but it is certain that^ even in the remote
locality of Davey Shield, intercourse with the world, like the
action of attrition on pebbles, has smoothed the asperities, rounded
the salient points, and made the people approach to the common
standard. — [Thomas Arkle.]

We'll Make't out amang us, as the Folks o' Lislebuisn did
THE Lord's Prayer.

This is said when there are several persons in company, and
each is constrained to furnish some reminiscence of an event
nearly forgotten.

If there is any truth in this saying, " the folks o' Lisleburn "
had not been so surcharged with acumen as the characteristic
given on a former page (see Clegs o' Lisleburn) would seom to
imply, unless it is admitted that the children of that part of the
world are wiser in their generation, etc. — [Thomas Arkle.]

Tatty Town Folks.

That is, the inhabitants of the village of Thropton, near
Rothbury. It is said that this was the first place at which
potatoes were grown in this part of the country; and the
saying which is now used as a term of reproach is probably the
only piece of surviving history which commemorates the circum-
stance. — [Thomas Arkle.]

There was never four saved at Three Card but at the
Grasslees.

Here in the olden time a party of four was playing at this
game (Loo), when the house tumbling down they saved, not
their stakes, but their lives.

POPULAR EHYMES, ETC., RELATIKG TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 343

I may liere mention a curious custom wliieli prevailed some
eighty years ago, in one or more of the dales in this county.
When playing at whist, if one of the party got the odd trick,
their opponents having had the four honours, a circumstance
which sometimes happens, the former party rose up and chalked or
scratched a cuddy's head upon the wall. A very old man, now
dead, used frequently to relate that he had seen this done in his
boyish days, and on one side, on the underside of the boards,
the house beino: what in those districts is termed lofted. This
occurred at Paunch ford, and visiting the place some fifty years
afterwards, he found the representation still perfect.

Grasslees and Pauuchford are, or rather were, two farm
places in the township of Woodside, and parish of Elsdon. —
[Thomas Arkle.]

The Couts o' Cartington.

Cartington is a place rather famed in history, and notice of
it may be seen in the pages of any local historian. The saying
took its rise from a family of rash, rough, headstrong individuals
residing there in days of old.

Auld Wark upon the Tweed,
Has been many a man's dead.

[For an account of Wark, see the County Histories, and a
paper in the Border Magazine, by the Rev. Peter Mearns, to
which there are additions in the Transactions of the Hawick
Arcliceological Society J]

Newcastle.

1 . Canny Newcastle thou shines as thou stands,

Tlic more I look at thee, the more my heart warms.

The above words seem to come from the heai't of a genuine

344 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

Newcastle man, or untravelled northern. Whether they form
a perfect ejaculation, or are part of a poem, I am at a loss to
say. I suspect the latter.

2. Portus, castrmn, carbo, salmo, salina, molaris,

Murus, pons, tcmplum, schola, sunt novi gloria castri.

See ante, p. 307. The above is the reading as given by
Grey in his C/iorographia, and yet neither of them can boast of
true metrical quantities.

Hexham Nicknames.

The subject thougli trivial is curious, and perhaps not
altogether to be condemned.

It was usual in ancient times with the greatest families, and
is by all genealogists allowed to be a mighty. evidence of dignity,
to use certain nicknames, which the French call '' sobriquets."
History of the House of Yvery.

An esteemed correspondent, a native of Hexham, writes me,
" I think that by-names abound more in Hexham than in many
places, many of us have our sobriquet. No class is exempt.
Excuse me sending more than a selection of what I could easily
collect, and accept as my excuse that I ought to bo better
employed than making up matters tending to bring into coji-
tempt my townsfolks, and perhaps my kinsmen."

So, also, another friend and correspondent (likewise a native)
says : '' Hexham used to be an odd kind of place. I don^t
know what it is now, but everybody used to have a nickname,
and some of them were very strange, take the following as a
sample : — [Note that both lists are blended.]

Kick o' the guts. Brandy Billy.

Wry-neck. Hob o' the loanin.

Lord Lickpenny. .John o' the loanin,

POPULAR RHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 345

Moses. Jemmy lang Hannah.

Pistol-foot. Aaron.

Shiney-boots. Jamaica Tommy.

Jamaica John. Gentleman John.

Gold-foot. Weather-neck.

Jinny the Drummer. Lang Ends.

Mall the Priest. Mary o' the Kiln.

Bubbly Jock. Jack the Dilly-driver.

Clocky Bell. Me-an'-my-Father.

A Busy Gap Rogue.

Tlie offence of calling a fellow freeman " by this name '^ was
sufficiently serious to attract the attention of a guild, a case of
this kind being in the books of the Bakers' and Brewers' Com-
pany of Xewcnstle on-Tyne, 1645. — The Roman Wall, Rev.
J. C. Bruce, LL.D., 2nd ed. 4to, p. 176.

Camden mentions — " Busy Gap, noted for robberies, where
we heard there were forts, but durst not go and view them, for
fear of the mosstroopers. " Busy Gap is an ancient breach in
the " Roman or Picts Wall," at no great distance from the
station Procolitia, now Carrawbrough.

To Drink like a Sleuth-hound.
A Border expression. Sleuth-hound, i.e., the blood-hound.

Poor Jack and Tom.

The following auld antique Border ditty, which was taken
down from the lips of a " Crowder and ballad singer " in 1847
contains nothing remarkable, either as regards plot or poetic
merit, yet as a traditional Border ballad, apparelled in the dust

346 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

and cobwebs of tlie oldon time, I consider it well deserving, not
only of notice but of preservation ; —

I'm a north countryman, in Redesdale born,
Where our land lies lea, and grows ne corn;
And such twa lads to my house never com,
As them twa lads called Jack and Tom.

Now, Jack and Tom, they're going to the sea,

I wish them both in good companie !

They're going to seek their fortune ayont the wide sea,

Far, far away, from their own countrie.

They mounted their horses, and rode over the moor,
Till they came to a house, when tliey rapped at the door,

And out came Jockey, the hostler man.*
" D'ye brew ony ale ? D'ye brew ony beer ?
Or have ye ony lodgings for strangers here ? "

*' Ne, we brew ne ale, nor we sell ne beer.

Nor have we lodgings for strangers here ! "

So he bolted the door, aad bade them begone,

For there was na lodgings there for poor Jack and Tom.

They mounted their horses, and rode over the plain ;
Dark was the night, and down fell the rain ;
Till a twinkling star they happened to spy,
And a castle and a house they were close by.

They rode up to the house, and they rapped at the door,

And out came Jockey the hosteler ;

'' D'ye brew ony ale ? D'ye sell ony beer ?

Or have ye ony lodgings for strangers here ? "

* It must not be inferred from this that the little way-side
hostelries kept " hostlers," a»!cording to the present acceptation of
the word. The primeval moaning was, " hostman " or " innkeeper."
Again, the students in some of the colleges at Cambridge were for-
merly so termed.

I

POPULAR EHYMES, ETC.j RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 347

" Yes, we have brewed ale tliis fifty laiig year,
And we have got lodgings for strangers here."
So the roast to the fire, and the pot hung on,
'Twas all to accommodate poor Jack and Tom.

When supper was over, and all was sided down,
The glasses of wine did go merrily roun'.
" Here is to thee. Jack, and here is to thee,
And all the bonnie lassies in our countrie."
" Here is to thee, Tom, and here is to thee.
And long they may leuk for thee and me ! "

The last line of this stanza gives the reader leave to infer
that the luckless Borderers were escaping from the consequences
of some blood-stained foray.

'Twas early next morning, afore the break of day,
They mounted their horses, and so they rode away.
Poor Jack, he died upon a far foreign shore,
And Tom, he was never, never heard of more.

Communicated by the editor to William Jordan, Esq,, and
given by him in the Literary Gazette. See vol. for 1848, pp.
460, 461.

The Mosstrooper's Grave.

From the Lake of Grindon a small burn * issues and flows
about two miles in a westerly course, when it is suddenly lost in
a fissure in its rocky passage in the limestone, popularly known
as a "swallow hole." Tradition states that a young mosstrooper,
in attempting to rob a farmyard in the neighbourhood, was shot
by one of the servants and brought to the lonely " swallow hole'*
and there buried. Upon this tradition a ballad was founded,
which I fear is now lost.

* Chinely-burn.

348 THE DENHAM TRACTS.

The Roman Wall.

The common people of the dales through which the wall runs
have a tradition that this formidable line of demarcation was
built by the joint endeavours of Mitchell Scott,* and the Devil,
and that they finished their work in a fortnight.

The more popular myth is, however, and it goes very far
towards proving Mitchell a much cleverer fellow than his mate,
that the former built the wall alone, and that, too, in a single
night!— [J. H.]

Border Reivers' Praier.

He that ordained us to be born,
Send us more meat for the morn,
Part oft right and part oft wrang,
God never let us fast owre lang.
God be thanked, and our Lady,
All is done that we had rea(?y.

The foregoing " prayer used by thieves and robbers of the
Borders after meat, in order to stealing from their neighbours "
on the morrow, is excerpted from Mr George Sinclair's tome,
Satayi's Invisible World Discovered^ Edin., 1769, I2mo [Edition
of 1815, p. 148].

Berwick Bairns, &c., &c.

" Hereafter then, should any of his English or Scottish neigh-
bours," in allusion to the town of Berwick, '' having long been
deemed a district distinct from both countries, cast up to any
Berwick bairn as we have oft heard done, ' That after England
and Scotland were made, Berwick was formed of the useless
rubbish that was left,^ let him boldly ask the name of the calum-
niator's calf-town, and it is ten to one but he nan retort the

* i.e. Michael Scott, the wizard,

POPULAR RHYMES^ ETC.^ RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 349

snrcasm by telling him that Berwick was born and named and
looked bonnily out on the sea as a new busked bride, before
the place of his nativity had either ' a local habitation or a
name.' Should he be a Newcastle Keeler, he may tell him

that his town is but an upstart of yesterday in com-

parisnn. As the Israelites of old had their proverb ' From Dan
to Beersheba,' the Scots have their ' Frae Maidenkirk to John
o' Groats,' so the country folks in England have a similar pro-
verbial distich, which fairly casts those of Jew and Sawnie into
the shade, and which clinks sweepingly thus : —

From Berwick to Dover
All the world over."

Hogg's Weekly Instructor, New Series, i., 384, Edin., 1848.
The communication is signed Paedeutes. — [J. H.]

LoRBOTTLE (ante, pp. 18, 19).

In addition to the efforts of the inhabitants of Lorbottle to
secure the cuckoo, told at p. 19, it is currently reported
that they made an attempt to gain exclusive possession of the
moon. Observing that the pale-faced luminary was, evening
after evening, on the top of the neighbouring hill of Addycomb,
the sages of Lorbottle concluded that she might be caught there.
They accordingly determined on an expedition for this purpose,
and had a sledge made whereon to convey their captive home.
The first night they were disappointed and grieved at finding
themselves too late, as she had just fled out of reach. It was
then determined to be there in sufficient time the following
night and wait her arrival. But alas ! they had the mortifica-
tion to find that the modest oib shunned their approach ; for
when they first caught a glimpse of her she was peering over

350 THE DENHAM TEACTS.

the next hill to the eastward. But the efforts of the Lorbottleltes
Avere as vain as those of the primitive Arcadians cliasing the
sun.

These stories show that the simple-minded folks of Lorbottle,
like many others in a similar condition, yet living, had an eye
to their own interest ; and that utilitarianism does not belong
exclusively to (though it is undoubtedly one of its most dis-
tinguishing characteristics of) the present age. — [Thomas
Arkle.]

[A parallel incident to this is told about the " Newbiggin
folks and the moon." Newbiggin, in the. parish of Oxnam, in
Roxburghshire, was a village made up of small proprietors,
holding of the Marquis of Lothian, as representative of the
Abbots of Jedburgh, who were finally evicted, with scant justice,
in the beginning of the present century, for defect of legal titles.
" The favourite story kept up against the ' folks o' Newbiggin '
has always been that of their attempt to catch the moon. The
legend goes that they from time to time, seeing the moon
shining over the hill, took it into their heads to try to lay hold
of it. They therefore formed themselves into a band one night,
and placing a ladder upon a sled, they climbed to the top of
Jock's Hill, intending to rest the ladder foot there, and thereby
capture the luminary. To their surprise they found themselves
as far as ever from the moon, and they felt baffled and descended
the hill. On reaching the village one of the party declared, to
his as^tonishment, he found the moon shining into the hen-baulks.
The moon, they concluded, was too fickle to lay hold of. No
Newbiggin man, woman, or child ever heard of the end of the
moon affair."— Mr. William Brockie, in Border Treasury,
p. 186, who appears to have had it from James Telfer, of
Saughtree. — J. H.]

Ross for rabbits and Elswick for kail,

Of a' the towns e'er I saw, Howick for ale ;

POPULAR RHYMES^ ETC., RELATING TO NORTHDMBERLAND. 351

Howick for ale, and Kyloc" for scrubbers,

Of a' the towns e'er I saw, Lowick for robbers ;

Lowick for robbers, Buckton for bread,

Of a' tlie towns e'er I saw, Holy Island for need ;

Holy Island for need, and Grindon for kyc,

Of a' the towns e'er I saw, Doddington for rye ;

Doddington for rye, Bowisdon for rigs,

Of a' the towns e'er I saw, Barmoor for Whigs ;

Barmoor for Whigs,f Tweedmouth for doors.

Of a' the towns e'er I saw, Ancroft for whores ;

Ancroft for whores, and Spittal for fishers,

Of a' the towns e'er I saw, Berrington for dishes, J

Howick I cannot locate satisfactorily. The other fourteen
villages are either within the circuit of North Durham, or close
upon its boundaries.

" Let it be booked with the rest." — Shakespeare.
The Si'iTTALLERs Butter their Bread on Both Sides. §

The village of Spittal is becoming famous as a watering-
place, but I am unable to speak definitely as to whether the
saying hints at the affection of the natives or visitors in their
'' liking of good living.^' [" Buttering them up " means flattery,
in which the Spittal folks are said to have gained extraordinary
proficiency.]

* Being close on the moor edge.

f Whigs was the Northumbrian reproach for Presbyterians, and is
still in use in some inland localities. In Newcastle they and other
Nonconformists were called ** Quigs." — J. H.

\ (?) Dishers, i.e., dish turners.

§ The four following sayings I sent to Mr. Denliam, but being too
late to be included in liis book he added them in a separate brochure.
It was tlie last of his tracts, excepting the classified catalogue of what
he had written. — J, H,

352 THE DENHAM TEACTS.

" If they come, they wiuna come,
And if they dinna come, they'll come hame."

This is the Woolei* version of '' an old, old, very old " Border
saw, already recorded. It was taken down from the lips
of a local antiquary residing at the above town. Happily
the saying does not now apply ; yet many thanks to tradition
for preserving it in its primitive native garb. It refers us back
to the period wherein— if the reiving Scots came, the cattle out
grazing [on the town's common] would not return ; but, if the
Scots made no raid, the cattle were all safe.

The meikle pot o'Haggp.rstone makes mony a Papist.

It was a saying about Sir Carnaby Haggerstone, who was a
Koman Catholic, " That his wife made more converts to mass
with the kale pot than the priest did with preaching."

Communicated by a Scots antiquary who, like myself, is " a
snapper up of unconsidered trifles." This will account for its
appearing in a Scottish guise. [I must here, however, say that
the language is not Scottish, but Northumbrian, of the present
day.— J. H.]

Up-hill, turn again.
Round about the Horlstane.

An old bastile-house [Hebburn Castle or Tower, the old seat of
the family of Htbburn] stands in the southern part of Chillingham
Park, from which a concealed passage was said to have passed
to a pillar-like store, named the Horl-stone or Hurl-stone, in a
field near the Now Town of Chillingham or Chillingham Newton.
The supposed subterraneous exit is indicated by the above
rhymes. By some this saying is applied to Cateran's Hole,

POPULAR EHYMES, ETC., RELATING TO NORTHUMBERLAND. 353

but those versed in traditiou say that Cateran's Hole runs to
Henshole.

Horl-stone is by some conjectured to be Earl's Stone. It
was erected in a socket by Mr. Jobson, late farmer of Chilling-
ham Newton : and some years ago had a portion struck off it
by lightning.

POST SCRIPTUS.

In taking this final leave of my book, " I referre me wholly
to the learned corrections of the Wise ; for wel I wote, that no
treatise can always be so workmanly handled but that somewhat
sometymes may fall out amisse, contrarle to the expectation of
the Reader; wherefore my petition to thee. Gentle Reader, is to
accept those my traveyles wyth that minde I doe offer them to
Thee, and take gently that I give gladly ; in so doing, I shall
thinke my paynes well bestoAved, and shall bee encouraged
hereafter to trust more to thy courtesie." — Hill's Physiognomy,
Lond. 1571.

Iterum Vale !

M. A. D.

2 A

355

INDEX.

[_Namcs of towns or other jdaces, when not accomjjanicd by a descriptive note
are place names which occur in rhymes orproverhs.]

Aboo, battle cr^' of the Irish, 123

Agricultural village, 13

Ague, gibbet charm for, 73

Aislaby, 109

Allan, family of, 69

Allan (Piper), tunes composed by, 21

Allendale, 333

Alne, 310

Alnwick, 20, 287, 334, 335

freeman's custom, 259-261

tobacco, 35

Alterbum, 335

Anagram on Henry Percy, 229

on George Clifford, Earl of

Cumberland, 172

Ancroft, 11,86, 351

Anfield, 68

Anglos, conversion of, to Christianity,
63

Animals, magic, 24

horns of, fixed on trees, 215

Appleby, 219

Archery butts, 180

Arms, coat of, Yorkshireman's, 119

Arms of the Isle of Man, 187, 196,
198, 199

Armstrong (Archie), 176-177

Armstrong, family of, 248-249

Ascension Day, aquatic procession on,
306

Ashton (Sir Kalph), 102-103

Askew's ducks, 35

Assize rhymes, 308, 309

Athol, Duke of. King of Man, 188-189

Auckland (West) provei'b, 60

Aurora Borealis, superstitions concern-
ing, 251-252

Axwell Park, 91

Babington (Sir John), 257
Backside, dialect use of the word, 89
Balcanqual (Dr. W.)> Dean of Dur-
ham, 41

Baldrick or broad belt worn by men

of high station, 142
Baliol (Edward), King of Scotland,

legend, 215-216
Ballad of the Orton Boggle, 225-226
" The Black Sow o' Rimside,"

321
" Poor Jack and Tom," 346-

347
Balliol family, 114
Balliol (John), cowardice attributed

to, 104-5
Bamboroughshire, 336
Bambrough Castle, 19
Banbury, Mayor of, 55
Banton, 220

Barbachlee, Scotland, 91
Barge day at Newcastle, 305
Bannoor, 351

Barnabas (St.) Day, tradition concern-
ing, 79
Barnard Castle, 81-84, 98, 104

feuds at, 74-75

Barney Castle, 108

Barnkins, border stronghold, 152

Barnscar, 165

Barrington (Hon. Shute), Bishop of

Durham, 106
Barton, 182

Bastle House, border stronghold, 152
Batablers, inhabitants of debateable

lands, 150
Bath, go to, a maledictory expression,

46
Bathket, Scotland, 91
Battle cry of the Irish, 123
Battles, see '* Bramham Moor," " Flod-

den," " Otterburn," " Sheriffmuir,"

" Shrewsbury," " Towton,"
Bavington Syke, 237
Bears, name of Berwick derived from,

6
Bciufront, 259

2 a2

356

INDEX.

Beckermont, 1G5, 178

Bcde, birthplace of, 43

chair of, in Jarrow Church, 110-

111; chip from, charm to procure

children,*67
Bedlington terriers, 35
Bedlingtonshire, formerly in Durham,

91
Bedstead in Naworth Castle, 17 7
Beggars, popular rhyme founded upon,

93
Belford, 11, 270

Bell at Hexham Abbey church, 281
Bell, church, rhymes, 213

■ ringing at Newcastle, 308

rope, story about a, 86-87

Bellasis family, 90-97, 114

Bellingham, 339

Bellingham (Sir Alan), 243

Belt, of Highlandman, 81 ; baldrick

called, 142
Benchester, 91
Benfieldside, 92
Bennet (William), prior of Finchale,

53
Berrington, 22, 351
Bertram family, 114
Berwick-on-Tweed, 281-292
Berwick, sayings relating to, 2-6, 348,

349

slogan, 134, 276

Bessie with the broad apron, 143
Bessy o' Borrowdale, 169
Beswick's kye, 214
Betsey Caius, ship so called, 25-26
Bewcastle, 150, 160
Biddick, 111

Biddick, go to, a maledictory expres-
sion, 46
Biddick, lawless town of, 60
Biddleston, 19

wheat stack of, 37

Bildershaw, hill near Piercebridge, 92

Billy, dialect word, Berwick, 292

Billymill, 333

Billy-row, a Durham Tillage, 45

Bingfield Comb, 237

Binsey, 93

Bishop Auckland, 93

Black Boy, a Dui-ham village, 45

Lad, riding the, of Ashton-

under-Lyne, 103
Black diamonds, name for coal, 306
Black Indies, name for Newcastle,

306
Black Tom of the North, 147-148
Blake'.aw, 329

Blakestone family, 115

Blayden, 322

Bloodhounds, 154-155

Bloody hand, robber taken in the act,

157
Bine, colour of Manx dress, 199
Blythe, 310, 312
Bodsbeck, the Ettrick Forest fairy,

202
Boggle, the Orton, a ballad, 225-226
Bogglehole, 339
Bokanki, name for cowards, 4 1
Bolam Cross, 95
Bolliope, 112

Border cattle stealers, 175-176
Borrowdale, 175, 182
Boulmer gin, 35
Bowes family, 100-101, 115

slogan, 138-139

Bowes (Squire), of Thornton Hall, 66

Bowfell, mountain, 159

Bowisdon, 351

Bowsdon, 11

Brackenbury familv, 98, 103, 114

Bradford, 238

Brafiferton, 76

Bramham Moor, battle of, 230

Brampton, 166

Brandling family, 247

Branks at Durham, 52 ; at Newcastle,

294
Bribery at elections, 6
Brigham, 183

Broach, north of England word, 77
Brough, 213-214, 222
Brown (William), highway robber, 66,

78
Brownie, Scottish, 201, 202
Brussleton, 89
Buckingham, 174
Bnckton, 351
Budle cockles, 35
Building legends, Crookham, 10-11;

Manx, 202-203
Building traditions, 348
Balls, red, of Berrington, 22
Bulmer family, 115

slogan, 131, 276

Bumblers, name for the Derwent

legion, 68
Burcastle, 304
Burdon family, 115
Burial customs during the plague, 11
Burning Spears, name for the Northern

Lights, 252
Burns (Robert), lines supposed to be

by, 287

INDEX.

357

Burr of Northumberland dialect, 28

Burrell family, 13-14, 270

Bnsy gap, 345

Butterbum, 262-263

Butterby churchgoer, 40

Bntterwick, 94

Byerley (Colonel), regiment of, 68

Byke Hill, 259

Cakes, Shrove Tuesday, 200

Calais alluded to, in Berwick rhyme. 3

Caldbeck, 162-163

Calder, river, 158, 182

Calf-yard, birthplace or fireside, 306

Callaly Castle, building tradition, 32.3-
324

Cannibalism of mosstroopers, 154

" Canny Newcastle," 309

Canute, King, tradition of, 94

Capoatree, 149

Card playing, 332, 342

Cards, anecdote about, 217

saying used in games of, 236

name for four of hearts, 298

Carel, i.e. Carlisle, fair, 180

Carey's raid, 157-158

Carham Hough, 7

Carlisle, 147, 149, 150, 180, 181

Carpets, absence of, indicated by a
tradition, 177-178

Cartington, 343

Caster pence, Konian coins so called,
91

Casticam, mountain, 161

Casticand, mountain, 158

Castle banks, 329

Castle Rushen, Man, legend of, 197-
198

Castlecon, Man, 203

Cat, Manx, 186, 198-199

Catchedecam, mountain, 159

Cateran's hole, 352-353

Cattle, proverbial saying about Dur-
ham, 64

old Northumbrian, of red

colour, 22

Cauld Lad of Hilton, 202

Cave at Stockton, tradition as to, 108

Charles I., in popular tradition, 163

at Durham, 39

Charm, gibbet used as, 73

Chatton, 14, 272, 273

Cheeseburn Grange, 334

Chest, town, of Newcastle^ 60

Chester-Ie-Street, 67, 77

Cheswick, 321,331

Cheviot, 12

Cheviots, 317, 318, 325, 330

Cheviot sheep, 35 ; honey, 35

Chevy Chase, 30

Children played for, 67

pilgrimage to Finchalc to

obtain, 54

wishing chair for procuring,

109, 111
Chillingham, 14, 272, 273, 325
Christianity, ignorance of, by Durham

woman, 106
Church building legend, Manx, 202-203

legend, 10-11

veneration for the building,

197
Civil war, anecdote of, 307
Civil war incident, 93, 210-211
Clan tunes, 239
Clannishness of Northumberland folkj

274
Clavering, family of, 91
Claxton family, 115
Clea, 182

Clergy, stipend of, 148
Clifton, 183

Clothes, fairy's objection to, 201
Clothing, proverb on bad, 109
Clouds, weather indications of, 7
Coal tax, 24

Coat Garth farmstead, 218
Cocker, 183

river, 158

Cockermouth, 182

Cockfield, 83, 86

Cocklaw, 337

Cockles, famous at Bedwell, 19

Coffin Brigg, 217

Coins, Roman, popular names for, 91

Coldingham, 288

Coldingham Moor, 273

Collingwood family, 100, 243

Collingwood (Lord), 341

Conyers family, 115

Cooper (Matthew), Canon of Durham,

44
Coquet, 275,313,315
Coquetdale man, 37
Corby, 181

Cornwood, mountain, 159
Coster pence, Roman coins so called,

91
Costume, see " Dress "
County boundary of Durham, 91

characteristics, 166

Conpland (Sir John), 31

3.58

INDEX.

Com-ts of the Bioliop of Durham, 99
101

Coverdale, 177

Cowards, name for, 41

Cox Green, 77

Craddock family, 115

Cradock, cunning as, proverb, 45

Craike, formerly in Dui'ham, 91

Crankies, name for pitmen. 293

Crasters, family of, 238

Crawhall, 266

Cricket, saying used in game of, 91

Croakumshire, name for Northumber-
land, 304

Ci'ookham, 10

Crookhouse, 10

Crossfell, mountain, 159

Crowley (Sir Ambrose), 59

Crowdy, Shrove Tuesday, 200

Crozier, family of, 115, 247

Cruelsyke, 314

Crusades, legend of, 69, 97

Cuckoo story at Lorbottle, 261-262

Cud-doos, St. Cuthbert's pigeons, 35

Culburnie, Scotland, 91

Cumberland rhymes, 141-185

Cumwhitton, ai'chery butts at, 180

Cup-markings, 336

Cups, fairy, 119

Cursing proverb, Manx, 197

Custom, preservation of, inculcated by
a proverb, 192

Cutbbert (St.), stone boat of, 8-9

Cuthbert's (St.) beads, 35

ducks, 35

patrimony, 100

pence, coins found at

Carlisle called, 181

Dacres (Lord), killed at Towton, 113-
144

Dagger money, 155

Dalby, Man, 203

Dalstone, 183

Dalton, 86

Dancing, peculiar step, 299

tune, Durham, 35

Danes, Barnscar built by, 165

Darlington, 52, 78-80

Darlington (Harry Vane, Earl of),
62

Davy shield, 268, 311

Dean, 182, 183

Death, customs at, during plague, 11

places of, remaining perma-
nent, 5

Death, prognostication of, 3

Debatcable lands, inhabitants of the,
150-151

Deemster, oath of. Isle of Man, 186-
187

Defoe (Daniel), anecdote of, 63

Demons and church building, Manx,
202-203

Dent, 218

Derwent, river, 158

legion, called Bumblers, 68

Derwentwater (James Ratcliffe, Ejirl
of), 250-251

Devil, Donnat, a name for, 110

and his mother, 159

Devil, legend of, 335, 336

Devil's water dog, otters so called,
87

Devonshire legend, 329

Dialect of Berwick, 288 ; Newcastle,
292

of Darlingtonshire, 79

Northumberland, 28

Westmoreland, 223, see " Back-
side," " Billy," " Binchester Pen-
nies," " Broach," " Foreigners,"
•' Gaunts," " Hunt," « Loans,"
" Yellerish "

Dill, 310-

Dilston, 322

Distington. 182

Doddington, 13,272,351

Dogs, places famous for breeding of,
82

Donnat, a worthless wretch ,110

Door-head inscription, 224

Dorrington, 14

Dorsetshire Dorsers, 166

Downham, 9

Dress, Manx national, 199

see " Baldrick," " Belt,"

" Blue," " Green," " Tartan"

Drig, 165, 178

Drowned persons, 7

Druids, supposed haunt of, 221

Drunkard's cloak, punishment, 293-
294

Duck (Sir John}, rhyme on, 44, 49

Dufton, s.aying concerning, 165

Dullish, bye-name for Castleton folk,
Manx, 203

Dun cow, legend of, 38

Dunelm of crab, a piece of ancient
cooker}', 47

Dunstanborough, 267

D union, 317

Dunterley, 339

INDEX.

359

Dnrham (city of), rhymes and phrases
relating to, 1, 38-53

Bishops of, riches of, 39

Bishopric of, rhymes, &c., re-
lating to, 53-120

Button, river, 158

Eaglesfield, 183

Eamont, river, 158

Earsdon, 333

Easter Monday custom, 103

Eden river, 158, 180, 206-207

Edenhali, luck of, 119, 183-185

Egdale, 220

Egglescliffe, 109

Egremont, 182

Elf hills, 211

Elieshaw, 314, 329

Ellen, river, 158

Elliesheugh, 330

Elliots, family of, 218, 250

Elsdon moat, 339

English border sayings against the,

28-29
Epitaphs, 44, 45, 62, 72, 170, 172, 173,

205, 212, 222, 255, 265, 297
Eshott Hall, 332
Esk, river, 158
Eslingto^, 17
Essex calves, 166
Ettrick Forest fairy, 202
Etymology (folk) of Berwick, 6, f-

10, 163, 216
Evenwood, 84-85
Evers family, 115
Eyemouth, 288

Fair at Carlisle, 180

Fairies, adventures with, 116-119

robbery from, 184, 185

of Rothley, 270

Manx, 201-202, see "Bogle,"

" Brownie," " Ettrick," " Goblin,"

" Hilton "
Fairs at Keswick, 162
Family slogans, 124-129, 132-134, 134-

140, 276
Farmer's proverb, 178
Farm holdings in common, 338
Fasting of the monks, rhyme on, 11
Fecundity, 54, 67, 109, 110
Feet, peculiar shape of, among Lor-

bottle people, 262
Felton, 20, 113, 269
Fenwick shield, 23

Feawick slogans, 125-127

rhymes, 234-236

Fenwick (Sir John), 340 ^

Ferry Hill, 94

Feuds, border, 74-75

tribal, 155-156

Fiery cross, or message spear, 241

Finchale, 53; pilgrimage to, to ensure
offspring, 54

Priory, wishing chair at

109

Finger game, nursery, 182

Fishburn, 94

Fisherman, weather sayings of, 7

Flodden, battle of, 179

Edge, 32

Folk etymology, 6, 9, 10, 163

Folk-moot at Tynwald, Isle of Man,
189-90

Font, 310

Fool, the Bishop's, 39

Foreigners, name for neighbouring
townsfolk, 22

Forest, ancient, indicated in place
rhymes, 91

Fors'ter family, 268

Foster family, 115

Foulthorpe family, 115

Framlington, 21

clover, 36

Frosterley, 110

Fruchie, go to, a maledictory expres-
sion, 46, 86

Gainford, 103
Gallows at Durham, 52
Games, boys', 151-152, 235-236

nursery, 182, 237, 240

competitive, on the Marches,

319
Garmondsway Moor, 93
Garter, institution of the, 9
Garth family, 1 15
Gateshead, 80-81, 301
Gateside, 107

" Gaunts," sighs, yawns, 329
Gelt, peak of Helvellyn mountains,

160

river, 158

Bridge, execution of Jacobites at,

162
Geordie, a collier vessel from the Tyne,

25
Geordies, sailors from Shields so

called, 70 ; Newcastle, 71
George I., anecdote of, 51

360

INDEX.

Gerse dyke, Eoman earthwork, 178

Ghost of Percy Keed, 247

walking, 24

Ghosts of executed rebels, 149

Giant legends, 112, 197-198

of Troutbeck, 206

Gibbet charm for ague and toothache,
73

Gilpin (Bernard), 57

Gilpin (Richardj, -n-ild boar slain by,
205

Gilsland well, 164

Ginger-bread, manufacture of, at Bar-
nard Castle, 83

Barney Castle, 108

Gipsy ground, 314, 315

Glanton greens, 35

Glendale, ten towns of, 31

Gluttony, rhyme as to, 1 8

Gobbocks, bye-name for Dalby folk,
jSIanx, 203

Goblin, cauld lad o' Hylton, 55-57

Hobthrnsh, 339

Goose pasture, right of, 148

Gooseberries, bribes at elections so
called, 6

Gordon, Jean, story of, 172-173

Gotham, name for Newcastle, 303

Gotharaite stories, 19, 166, 349-350

see "Cuckoo," "Gowks"

Gowks of Glendale, 12

men of Weardale, so called, 96

Graemes, border thieves, 146

Graysouthen, 183

Green, dress of fairies, 116

Greta, river, 158

Grey family, 256-257

Grindon, 351

Gwonny Jokesane's day, 26

Hadden, 9

Haddock boys, bye-name for Peel folk,

Manx, 203
Haggerstonn, Sir Camaby, 352
Hail, 182
Hall, family of, 247

famil}', of Berwick, 14-15

Hall (Shankev), 69

Haltwhistle, 2"'67

Hampshire hogs, 166

Hamsterley, 110

Hang-bank, hill near Melsonby, Yorks,

92
Hang-a-dyke Nook, opposite Berwick

Castle, 6
Hanging incident at Bowsdon, 11-12

Hanging-stone, 328-329

Hang the fellow, 141-142

Hansard family, 115

Hants, Roman coins called onion pen-
nies in, 91

Hap, meaning of, 296

Harnham, 238

Harper's warning. 271

Harraby Hill, 147

Harrington, 22, 182

Hartlepool, 89, 111

■ Mayor of, 55, 67

Hartley, 333

Harvest, the white, 179

Harwood, 107

Hawkey, rhyming proverb on the name,
71-72

Head lam, 89

Hearths, construction of, 332

Heaton, 265-266

Hebburn, 332

Heckley fence, 335

Hector's cloak, 242

Hedgehope, 12

Hell-kettles, three deep pits so called,
79

Helm-wind, 218

Hendon, 91

Heron, local name for, 76

Heron (Sir George), 256

Heron slogan, 138, 276

Herring, alluded to in oath of the
Deemster, Isle of Man, 186-187

fishery. Isle of Man, 191-192

Hesleyside, 337, 339

Hett, 94

Hetton, 65

Hexham, 278-281,344

glovers, 35

Hildesley, Bishop of Man, 200

Hilton, cauld lad o', 55-57, 202

Hingham, 182

Hiring of servants, Manx, 199

Hobthrush, goblin, 339

Holme Cultram, 169

Holy Island, 327, 351

Holy mawl rhymes, 170-171

Holy Rood Day, stag offered on, a
Durham Priory, 95

Holy Well, 333 ; see « Wells " .

Horse, value of, to borderers, 17

Horstone, legend of, 352-353

Horton, 14

Hotspur, prognostication of his death,
8

Howard (Lord William), 141-143

Howden-pan, 261

INDEX.

361

Howdenshire, formerly in Durham, 91

Howick, 332, 351

Humshangh, 337

Hundred, division of tovrnship, 206

Hunt, folk-etymology derived from

incidents of the, 9-10
Hunterley, 339
Hunting song, fragment, 16
Huntingdonshire sturgeons, 166
Hurrock, piled-up heap [of rubbish],

105
Hutchinson (Barnabas), proctor of

Durham, 45
Hutton-Henry, 90
Hylton family, 71-72, 82, 115
Hythe, kin, be akin to, 65

Iceton, 68

Impiety, punishment for, 79
Indecision, popular saying as to, 18
Insula (Robert de). Bishop of Durham,

47
Inundations from the Tees, 87
Ireland, otters in, 87
Irish, Manx proverb against, 192-193
Irish, battle cry of ^ 1 23
Irt, river, 158
Irving, river, 158

Islandshire, formerly in Durham, 91
Iver-ha', 339

James I., anecdote of, 61, 92, 151, 156

union of crown under, 250

James II. [Duke of York], anecdote
of, 80

Jamie, a collier vessel from the Wear,
25

Jamie Hedley's clover, 36

Jammies, sailors from Sunderland
so called, 71

Jarrow, 88-89

birthplace of Bede, 43

Church, Bede's chair in, 110-

111

Javelin, fairy, 118

Jedworth slogans, 127-128

Jennison family, 115

Jesus Christ, allusion to as a gentle-
man, 106

Johnson (Ambrose), family of, 75

Judges, custom of meeting on Shirrey
Moor, 81

Jury, verdicts of, 223

KaberKigg, 217

Keeldar stone, 268-269

Keepick, 337

Keir, river, 220

Kendal, 208. 219, 222, 223

Kent, river, 220

Kent, yeoman of, 259

Kentish long tails, 166

Keswick Fair, 102

Kilham, 9

King of Patterdale, 145-146

Kings, petty, of Northumberland and

Westmoreland, 207-208
Kinnyside, 182
Kirby, Stephen, 213
Kirkby Lonsdale, 208-209
Kissing Hill, 217
Kleptomania, anecdote of, 224
Knipe, 219
Knock, 207

Knock-kneed person, saying about, 48
Kyloe, 351

Ladford farmstead, 218

Laidlaw worm, 1 9-20

Laird, Northumberland title of, 258

Lamberton, marriages at, 289

Lambton, 111

Lambton family, 106, 115

Lambton worm, 46, 64-65

Lancashire Lonks, 166

saying, 180

Land, small value of, to borderers, 17
Lands End, alluded to, in Berwick

rhyme, 3
Lanercost, 183
Langbarrow pennies, Roman coins so

called, 91
Langleyford farmhouse, 12
Lartington, 81
Lauvellin, mountain, 158
Lawbottle, cuckoo story, 349-350
Lawless men, gathering of, at Biddick,

00
Laws, local, superseding general law,

60
Lee (St. John), 268
Lceball family, 257-258
Legends and traditions of Edward

Baliol, 216-216; St. Barnabas Dav,

79
Legends, Devonshire, 329 ; of devil,

335-336
Legs-Cross, hill near Melsonby, Yorks,

92
Leicestershire Beanbellies, 166

362

INDEX.

Leven, river, 158

Lewick, village of, 36

Liddal, river, 158

Lilburne familv, 115

Lilburne (John), 58-59

Lincolnshire bagpipers, 166 •

Lisleburn, 275, 342

Little, family of, border rievers, C5

Lively (John), Vicar of Kelloe, 58

Loans, places where cows are milked

in common pasture, 329
Local slogans, 129-132, 134
Lockford farmstead, 218
London (Little), a part of Bishop

Auckland, 105

towns called "Litile," 182

• lickpennies, 166

Long Meg and her Daughters, 166
Longhaugh, 339
Longtown, 333
Lorbottle, 18

cubs of, 37

cuckoo story of, 261-262

Lowdore, river, 209

Lowick, 351

Lowther family, 209, 223-224

Luhberts, people of Anfield, so called,

68
Luck of Edenhall, 183-185

of Muncaster, 185

Lumley family, 61, 70, 115

MacCullock (Cutlar), a Gallovidian
rover, 190-191

Maddison family, 1 1 5

Mainsforth, 85

Mair family, 115

Mar., Isle of, arms of, 187, 196, 198,
199 ; king of, 188-189 ; popular
rhymes, etc., of, 186

Manx fairy cup, 1 19

Marches, or debateable land, 276

Mare and her foal, stone monument,
166

Marriage ceremony at Jarrow, 67

Marriage custom, 82

Marriage, objection against, to non-
townsfolk, 22

rhymes relating to, 21

Marriages at Lamberton, 289

Man-iages, border, 27-28

Marwood, 84

Mawl, holy, rhymes, 170-171

Meadow bank, 334

Meldon, 322

Merry Dancers, name for the Northern

Lights, 252
Message spear, or fiery cross, 241
Midden, town, at Newcastle, 309
Middleham, 93
Middlesex clo^vns, 166
Midridge, myth of, 116-119
Mite, river, 158
Mitford, 326

Mock mayor, Ovingham, 26
Monkchester, old name for Newcastle,

305, 326
Morden Carrs, 88
Morlan Fair, 161-162
Morpeth, 22-23, 265, 267, 287, 326,

333
Morton, Bishop of Durham, 108
Moss-troopers' motto, 276
Mounsey, King of Patterdale, 145-146
^Mountains of Northumberland, 309-

318
Mowbray slogans, 137
Muffled man, 157
Muncaster, luck of, 185
Municipal custom at Alnwick, 259-

261 ; at Berwick, 283
Murder near Lilbum Allers, 15-16
Musgrave, 213
Mustard, manufactured at Durham,

48, 51'

Nag and foot tenements, 152

Names of Northumberland folk, 274

National antipathy expressed in pro-
verbs, 192-193

Naworth, 183

Naworth Castle, 142

Neck verse, 147

Neville family, 107, 115

Neville (Hugh), story of, in the Holy
Land, 69

Neville (Robert), 113

Neville (Robert, Lord of Raby), death
of, 95

Neville slogans, 136-137

Nevilles of Raby, war cry of, 102

Newcastle, 24, 287, 292, 325, 343

Newcastle coals, 35

New chapel flower, 36

Nicknames, 37, 68, 71, 77, 140, 166,
182, 203, 223, 304

Hexham, 344-345

Nine churches, legend about, 216

Nixon's Glow, 178

Noodle stories, see " Cuckoo," " Gotha-
mite," " Gowks "

INDEX.

363

Noodles, name for yeomanry at New-
castle, 08

Norfolk dumplings, 166

Norfolk local proverb, 182

Norham, 7

Norhamshire, foiinerly in Durham, 91

Northallerton, formerly in Durham, 91

Northants, Eoman coins called cosfer-
pence in, 91

Northumberland, sayings relating to,
1-37

rhymes and proverbs of, 227

rivers and mountains, 309-

318

village rhymes, 318-340

Northumberland militia, 27

Northumberland (Earl of), 20

Nursery free-booting song, 336-337

"game, 237, 240

rhyme, 291

Oath of the Deemster, Isle of Man,

186 187
Offering of stag at altar of Durham

Priory, 95
Old maids of Durham, 50
Onion pennies, Roman coins so called,

91
Orton Boggle, the, a ballad, 225-226
Oswald, King of Northumberland, 254
Otterbum, battle of, 124
Otters, in the Tees and the Wear, 87
Ovingham Fair, 26
Ovington, 86

Painshaw, 77

Pallinsburn ducks, 35

Pancakes, Shrove Tuesday, 200

Pandongate, Newcastle, 300

Parliamentarv election saying, 215

Parr (Thomas), 205

Parrot, stoiy of, 120

Paston, 9

Pasture, common, 243

Patterdale, king of, 145-146

Pauperism in Man, 193

Peel, :Man, 203

Peel houses, border stronghold, 152

Pelaw, 111

Pelton, 112, 113

Penrith, 182

Pepperv as Durham mustard, 39

Percy rhymes, 227-233

Percy slogans, 124, 125

Perth (James Dnimmond, Duke of),
60

Peterill, river, 158

Phillipson family, 210-211

Philological errors causing historical
errors, 33. (Sec "Folk Etymolog)'")

Phynnodderce, a Manx fairy, 201

Picktree, 1 1 1

Pidwell fishery, 7

Picrsbridge, Roman coins found at, 91

Pigeon, William, legend of, 331

Pilling moss, 180

Pinkey's Cleugh, prophecy concern-
ing, 263

Pipes, musical instrument of North-
umberland, 239

Pipers, town, 279

Pipei-s' warning, 271

Pits, called Hell-kettles, 79

Physical types, peculiar, at Lorbottle,
2G2

Place family, 115

Plague of 1348-1357, 29

burials, customs of, 11

Playing-cards, knave of clnbs called a
Sunderland fitter, 57

Pollard family, 115

Ponsonby, 182

Pont, 24, 310, 312

Potatoes first grown at Thropton» 342

Prayer of the Border Thieves, 348

Prebends, golden, of Dm-ham, 40

Presbyterian Church legend, 10-11

Presson, 9

Priests, marriage of, 53, 54

Prophecy, 183

attributed to Mother Ship-
ton, 95

concerning Pinkciy's Cleugh,

263

Prophecy fulfilled, 255

Prostitutes, rhymes indicative of their
location, 93, 104

Protestant cause, success of, identified
with a ship, 26

Proverbs quoted, 38, 39, 42, 45, 141,
186, 200, 205, 227

Prudhoe castle, 326, 327

Pndsey (Hugh), Bishop of Durham,
46-47

Puffin, bird, 194

Punctuality, proverb against want of,
by Manxmen, 194, 196

Punishment, branks for scolding
women, 52, 294 ; cloak for a drunk-
ard, 293-294

364

INDEX.

Puns upon town names, 1

Quakerism, proverb on, 92

Raby Castle, Sir Harry Vane's pur-
chase of, 105

Raid, a game so called, ] 51-1 52

Raids into England, 32-33

Rain proverb, 217

Rattenraw, 338

Raven dropping a piece of silver,
legend of, 41:

Red hand, robber taken in the act,
157

Red Robin, inn sign, 114

Redesdale, 247, 325

man, 37

Redley family, 266
Redley (Nicholas), 256
Redpath, 327

Redshanks, Manx name for Scotch-
men, 195
Reed, 310, 313
Reformation rhymes, 53, 54
Regiments, local, 27, 34-35, 68
Reins, 339

Religion, identified with race, 270
Rhyme sung by ghost, 24
Rhymes addressed to fairies, 117, 118

(place), 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 22

of Northumberland villages,

318-340

Rhyming grants, 252-254

will, 170

Richard I., story of, 47

Richard III., mui'der of the princes
by, 99

Riches, prognostication of, legend, 44

Richmond shilling, tax so called, 24

Riding, 339

Riding the Black Lad of Ashton-
under-Lyne, 103

Ridstow Tike, mountain, 161

Rimside Moor, 321

Rivers of Northumberland, 309-318

see " Calder," " Cocker,"' " Dcr-

went," "Dutton," " Eamont," "Eden,"
« Ellen," " Esk," " Gelt," " Greta,"
" Irt," " Irving," " Keir," •' Kent,"
"Leven," " Liddal," "Lowdore,"
" Mite," " Peterill," " Tees," " Till,"
" Tweed," " Tyne," " Wampool,"
" Waver "

Roads, condition of, 66

Robber anecdote, 264-265, 271

Robbers (highway), 60, 78

Robbery from fairies, 184, 185

Robert, name of, prevalent at Whorl-
ton, 70

Robin of Redesdale, 135, 244

Robin the Devil, 210-211

Roddam, 16, 252

Rokeby slogan, 132-134

Roman coins, popular names for, 91

earthwork, 178

Wall, Tradition of, 348

Rookby farmstead, 218

Roseberry Topping, 88

Rosegill, 220

Rothbury, 316, 330

Rothley, fairies of, 270

Rowley Burdon, name in a popular
toast, 68

Rnberslaw, 317

Rukleton, 111

Ruth family, 115

Sackworth, field name, 219

Sacrilege, hatred of by Manx, 197

Sadberge, manor of, 47, 76

Saffron Walden, 93

St. Bees, 182

St. George, battle cry of, 123

Salvin family, 115

Sanctuary, stone to indicate boun-
daries of, 25

Sandhiller, a female blackguard, 297

Saracen's heads, Roman coins so
called, 91

Saufey money, protection money
against marauders, 102

Sayings, popular, relating to North-
umberland, North Durham, and
Berwick, 1-37

Scawfell, mountain, 159

School boys' name for cowards, Dur-
ham, 41

Scot, a term of scorn, 248

Scotch and English, a game so called,
151-152

Scotchman, proverbs on, 302, 303

Scots, border sayings against the, 29

Scott, Michael, builder of Roman
Wall, 348

Scottish invasion of Man, 194

forests, indicated in place

rhymes, 91

Scremerston crows, 35

INDEX.

365

Scremerston, lime, 35

Scriptural place names in Isle of Man,

192
Scrnffell, mountain, 160
Sealing, impressing the wax with the

tooth, 253
Sea spirit, Manx, 203-204
Seaton, 111
Seaton Delaval, 333
Sedgefield, 85-86, 94
Senhouse, family of, 167, 168-169
Setons, execution of, 5
Shadforth family, 65, 115
Shaftoe (Robert), alluded to in song,

74
Shaftoe slogans, 129, 276
Shags, people of Winlaton so called,

68
Shaving, customs of, at Newcastle,

296
Shaw, 339

Sheriff muir, battle of, 81
Shiel, or shiels, place names ending in,

58
Shields, 57, 327

cailors from, 70

go to, a maledictory expression,

46, 86
Shiney-row, a Durham village, 45
Shipton (Mother), prophecy attributed

to, 95
ShirreyMoor, 81
Shotley, 91
Shrewsbury, battle of, 3-4, 125

wife, saying about, 174

Shrove Tuesday custom, 200-201
Siward, Earl of Northumberland, 30
Skaddou boys, bye-name for Peel folk,

Manx, 203
Skiddaw, mountain, 158, 160-161
Sleuth hounds, 154-155
Slogans and gathering cries, 121 IJO,

276
" Snaffle spur and spear," northern

counties' slogan, 131
Sockbum, serpent legend at, 84
Song, " Go to Berwick, Johnny," 290

" Bobby Shaftoe," 74

gathering ode of the Fenwicks,

241-242
on the Tyne, 310 ; Nursery

freebooting, 336-337
Songs, Northumberland, relating to

places, 34
Sower pow, 217
Sowies, diminutive of sows, 67
Spittal, 288, 341,351

Spittal, sands, 7

Sporting proverb, 69

Spring, Bothil, ran with blood when

Charles I. was beheaded, 163
Staff, white, of government, Manx,

196
Stag, offering of, at altar of Durham

Priory, 95
Stainton, 111
Stanhope, 104, 107, 103
Stanley slogan, 139-140
Stenkreth Mill, 217, 221
Stobhill, 334

Stockinger, a thick-set fellow, 223
Stockton, mayor of, 67
Stockton-on-Tees, 107
Stone, inscribed, 161

standing, at Yevering, 245

treaty signed at, 92

keeldar, 269

monuments preserved by spirits,

8,9

pillar, traditional orgin of, 112

Stowgill fannstead, 224

Straw, tenure by the, Manx, 195

Street rhymes, 13

Subterran(!an giant, Manx legend,

197-198
Snnderiand, 57, 67, 71, 306
Sunnyside, a Durham village, 45
Surtees (Edward), anecdote of, 271
Surtees family, 115
Sword-dancers' song, 77

Tailboys family, 115

Tanfield, 68

Tarret, 310, 313

TaiTet slogans, 129-131

Tarset, 310, 313

Tartan, Northumberland, 34

Team, 310

Tees, 310, 313

Tees, rhyme on, in connection with

the Thames and Tyne, 87
Teesdale, 247

people, fends of, 74-75

Tempest family, 54
Tenure by nag and foot, 152
Thames, in a Tees rhyme. 87
Thiriwall Castle, 132
Thirlwall slogans, 132, 276
Threap lands, 151
Thropton, 342
Tickhill, 93
Till, 310, 311

366

INDEX.

Till, the river, names of the, 14

Tillmocth, 8-9

Tiudale, 247

Tindall slogans, 127-123, 276

Tiparee, 10

Tippai, :no

Toast, a popular, 68

Tofthill, OG, 83, 109

Token, 166

Toothache, gibbet charm for, 73

Towns used in maledictory expressions,

Bath, Biddick, Fruchie, Shields, 46
Township, divided into three hundreds

206
Towton, battle of, 144
Ti'easui'e, tradition as to existence of,

108
Trees, animals' horns fixed on, 215
Trindon, 94
Trollop, Robert, 62
Troutbeck, 206
Trust, proverb on, 65
Tume tabart, i.e. empty coat or

coward, 105
Tunstall, 65
Turnip rhyme, 12
Tweed, 310, 311, 312, 314, 316

attributes of, 1

Tweed and Tvne salmon, 35
Tweedale, 247
Tweedniouth, 288, 351
Tyne, 310, 312, 313
Tyne, in a Tees rhyme, 87
Tynedale slogan, 132
Tynemouth local saying, 25
Tynwald, Isle of Man, 189-190

Umfraville famil}', 55, 244, 246
Uter Pendragon, 206-207

Vane, Sir Harry, 61

Village of farmers, 13

Villages, rhymes on Northumberland,

318-340
Vinegar Hill boys, bye-name for Peel

folk, Manx, 203
Virgin Mary worship, 36

"Walcher, Bishop of Durham, 97
Walker Shore, 259
Wallington, 236-241
Walwick, 337
Wampool, river, 158
Warcop, 213

Ware, alluded to, in Berwick rhyme ,

3
Wark, 343
Wark Castle, 9

Warwick, Neville of, slogan, 134-136
Washington, proverb on, 92
Water spirit, 71
Waver, river, 158
Weardale, 90, 96, 107, 247
Weather indications, 7

foretold from waterfalls, 221

rhyme, 85

Wedderstone, 328

Week, the busy, 32

Well custom at Alnwick, 259-261

St. Culhbert, robbery from

fairies at, 184

Gilsland, 164

Wells at Stainton, 111

West Sleddale, 217

Westlington, 182

Westmoreland rhymes, proverbs, &c.,
205, 217-226

Wharton, Thomas, Lord, epitaph on,
212-217

Whinetley, laird of, 264

Whitesmocks, a Durham village, 45

Whittingham, Dean of Durham, 104

Whittle gait, right of food, 148

Whorlton, 70

Widdrington and his stumps, 30-31

WildBoar Pell, 217

Wilkinson family, 115

AVilliam llufus, anecdote of, 305

Willie Wastle, game of, 235-236

AVind, proverb about the, 80

Wiulater, in rhyming proverb, 72

Winlaton, 68

Wishing chair atFinchale, 109 ; Jar-
row, 111

Witch rhymes, 82

Withershins, against the sun, 268-269

Witton-le-Wear, 110

Wolf-hunting legend, 163

Wolf, men of Weardale alluded to, 96,
107

AVolsingham, 110

Wolves, prevalence of, in Weardale, 107

Women, prevalence of unmarried, at
certain villages, 94

of Middleham, immorality of,

93

Woodside, 275

Woolpacks, Berwick, bridge built

upon, 6
Workington, 182
Worthell Hall, 167-168

INDEX.

367

Wotobank, 163

Wrecking on Northumberland coast,

274-275
Wreighill, 320
Wren family, 115
Wren hunting, Manx, 203-204
WuUy's black horse, Jacobite legend,

173
Wydon, 327
Wyville family, 246

Yarm, 109

Yellerish, Cumberland dialect, 162

Yeomanry, called Noodles, 68

Yet, cry of, used in amusements, 131

Yevering, the standing stone at, 245

York (Cicel}', Duchess of), 72

York conflict with Durham, episcopal,

40,42
Yorkshire, in local proverb, 77
Roman coins called Langbar-

row pennies in, 91
Yorkshireman's coat of arms, 119
Yorkshire tykes, 166

END OF VOL. I.

SICHOLS AXD SONS, PBINTERS, 25, PARLIAMENT STREET, WESTMINSTER, S.W.

6.

Mi

'.S'^ijs^'"

•A

GR
U1

V.1

Denham, Michael Aislabie
The Denham tracts

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

^^MMteUitf(UU>.<

ipililiniMrnrffUiUIKilil

' I Eunfflllfiimi